6-Year-Old Boy Allegedly Given Hot Sauce as ‘Discipline’ in His Special Education Class, Now Mom Speaks Out

The mother of a 6-year-old boy who is autistic and nonverbal claims a teacher’s aide at his New Jersey school gave him hot sauce as a form of discipline.

Following the initiation of an investigation, the school district said the individual is “no longer employed” at the school.

Quasheema Frye, 36, whose two sons are on the autism spectrum and attend Dale Avenue Elementary School in Paterson, says she was alerted to a Facebook post last month alleging a teacher had been putting hot sauce in the mouths of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students “as discipline for their behavior.”

The Dec. 22 post claimed that the only verbal child in the class was not given hot sauce.

Kenya Hilton, a substitute in the district who posted the allegations, made the Facebook post and tells PEOPLE she did not witness the alleged behavior but was told of it by another substitute teacher who claimed they did.

Hilton says a day after she made the post, on Dec. 23, she was contacted by an investigator from the Paterson Public Schools.

Frye tells PEOPLE she immediately grew concerned that the youngest of her two sons, Lamond, who is nonverbal, might have been affected after she learned of Hilton’s allegations. 

Lamond is in a classroom of 10 students, all of whom have special needs, she says. So she called the school on Dec. 23, she says, and was assured by a secretary that the claims did not involve her son’s class and that the school was looking into it.

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But two weeks later, Frye claims she received a call from her sons’ principal suggesting the investigation had found the allegations to be true. Frye and her friend, Ennis Goodman, 49, who was with her when she received the call, say Frye asked the administrator whether Lamond had been given hot sauce.

Goodman claims the woman responded: “Unfortunately, yes, but we took care of the situation. That person is no longer with us.”

Frye then arranged to speak with the principal this week — a conversation she hoped would provide clarity — but during their follow-up conversation, Frye alleges, the principal denied ever having confirmed that Lamond had been given hot sauce. (The school district’s spokesperson did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on these specific claims.)

During a subsequent meeting with the superintendent earlier this week, Frye says she was told the individual who was allegedly responsible is a teacher’s aide.

She says she was told the district could not release more information, such as the individual’s name, because of an ongoing investigation.

A spokesperson for Paterson Public Schools tells PEOPLE: “The District is aware of the allegation regarding an incident at Dale Avenue Elementary School and immediately initiated an investigation in accordance with established protocols.”

The spokesperson adds that the individual involved is no longer employed by the district.

“We are committed to ensuring that every student feels safe, respected, and supported,” the statement says.

The spokesperson did not respond to follow-up questions, including about Frye’s account of events, but reiterated the district’s previous comments.

It is unclear how long the individual was employed by the district.

Frye says she believes her son is indeed a victim because she had noticed a change in his physical behavior in November that subsided in recent weeks. She says that in November and December, the boy had been coming off the school bus crying and screaming, and that when she’d ask the bus driver what was wrong with Lamond, she’d be told: “I don’t know. He came out [of] the school like that.”

Frye and Salaam Ismial, a director of the National United Youth Council and representative for Frye, say they are unsatisfied with the district’s response and what they describe as a lack of transparency.

They say it is unclear how long the alleged behavior went on and how many children may have been given hot sauce.

“It does not bring me any comfort for the simple fact that, in order for you to have fired somebody, something has to have taken place,” Frye says.

Frye hopes that by speaking out, she can encourage other potential victims or their parents to come forward, and both she and Ismial want the aide to face criminal charges.

“There’s a lot of stuff that needs to happen and this story is long from over,” Ismial says, “because there’s a lot of policy changes that we’re going to be pushing.”