Central Bucks whistleblower, parents speak out on child abuse investigation

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The whistleblower who reported alleged child abuse in a special education classroom at Jamison Elementary School publicly addressed Central Bucks School District board members at a meeting Thursday night.

“I want to be clear when people say that’s not true, or try to minimize what happened in that classroom, I am deeply offended. I lived it,” said Alyssa Marie, who did not provide her last name at the meeting. “I saw it with my own eyes. I heard the cries. I saw the fear in their eyes. Dismissing these truths is not only dishonest, it’s dangerous. It silences the reality of what these children endured, and protects a system that failed.”

The personal care assistant first reported the abuse in November 2024. She told the board Thursday night that that report “triggered a chain of reaction of deception and cover-ups, where one lie buried another until the truth was suffocated in a darkness few could only imagine.”

“I’m standing here because I hope this letter serves as a wake-up call to this board … not only for those who turned a blind eye, but also for those who have the power to ensure this never happens again, which is everybody in here,” she said. “Because I’m telling you now that the system is broken for children that cannot speak for themselves. You guys failed. This district failed, this board failed, and those children suffered.”

An internal investigation found that no abuse occurred, but public pushback toward the district’s response started in January. In February, the board hired a law firm to conduct an external investigation, and Jamison Elementary School Principal David Heineman was placed on administrative leave in March pending the results.

In April, Disability Rights Pennsylvania published an investigative report finding that students in an autistic support classroom at Jamison Elementary School “experienced abuse, neglect, illegal restraints, use of aversive techniques, and disability discrimination” at the hands of a teacher and educational assistant.

Since April, the board placed Superintendent Steven Yanni on administrative leave, along with four other district administrators.

Parents of three of the four children who were in the classroom where the abuse allegedly occurred, including school board member Jim Pepper, addressed the board and attendees Thursday night, condemning the lack of action taken in the face of the abuse allegations.

“I’m here tonight to speak on behalf of my son, a boy who cannot speak for himself, one of the children who was affected by the abuse and the neglect in the classroom,” said Donna O’Donnell. “He may have been labeled as child number four, but to us and to many others in the community, he is not a number. He is a boy with a larger-than-life personality … He is a child loved by everyone who meets him, a child who came to school expecting to be supported, guided, and most of all protected. Instead, he was neglected, overlooked by the very teachers and academic providers who were entrusted with his care.”

O’Donnell said she first learned of the abuse allegations not from school officials, but from the Warwick Township Police, who investigated after the district reported it to ChildLine, the state child protective services hotline. She said she did not speak with school officials until she reached out to the principal in January.

“Neglect is not just an oversight,” she said. “It’s a breach of trust. And cover up is not a mistake. It’s a choice. People had a choice to do the right thing from the beginning, but chose power and self-preservation instead of safety of the most vulnerable children.”

Pepper criticized Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn for declining to pursue criminal charges, and expressed doubt that Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday would pursue charges. Pepper called on David Metcalf, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to open a criminal investigation.

“There is an abundance of evidence that my son’s constitutional rights were violated and the other defenseless children’s constitutional rights were violated,” Pepper said. “And I beg you to open an investigation into the violation of their constitutional rights. They are no less than any other child in this district. They are no less than any other child in this country.”

“It is time for the treatment of children like my boy as a, not even a second-class citizen, like an animal, to end,” he said. “And for our principles in this country, most especially for equal protection under the law to be enforced. And if our DA won’t do it, and if our attorney general won’t do it, then the federal government must do it, otherwise it’s going to happen again and again and again.”

Pepper is the lone Republican on the school board. Community member Mariann Davies criticized four Democratic board members who she said “have remained steadfastly silent on this most egregious abuse and cover-up.”

“That is not leadership, it’s cowardice,” she said. “Central Bucks School District deserves better.”

There are four open board seats up for election in May.

The board said it will hold a public meeting in June once a summary of the findings of the external investigation is made public.