📰 SACO | Special Ed Staff Resigns After Witnessing Student Mishandling and Facing Retaliation

📰SACO | Saco Special Education Staff Resigns After Witnessing Student Mishandling and Facing Retaliation:

"Instead of accountability there was a cover up... I don't think I want to be a teacher anymore."

Lauren Grenier, addresses the Saco School Board

SACO, ME – Lauren Grenier, a special education staff member at CK Burns School, has resigned her position after what she describes as “intimidation, retaliation, and pressure to betray my conscience and my students.”

FULL VIDEO CAN BE VIEWED HERE: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/15ztzb5393/

On September 16, 2025, Grenier reported what she believed was an illegal restraint used on a child by a new staff member. Less than 15 minutes later, she was pulled into a pre-scheduled meeting with Director of Operations Chris Indorf and Assistant Superintendent Meg Parkhurst that turned into what she describes as an interrogation about pronouns.

“The staff member I had just reported for restraining a child was the very same staff member discussed in that interrogation,” Grenier said. “A child’s safety had just been jeopardized, and yet I was the one placed under scrutiny.”

Grenier also points to a September 11 email she sent to Case Manager Samantha Goodchild, warning that the same staff member was being “mean to the kids.” She never received a response. Five days later, a child was mishandled.

In the September 16 meeting, Grenier was told she must, under Maine state law, refer to the staff member as a man despite the individual fully presenting as a woman, and that she must correct children with intellectual and developmental disabilities when they naturally used female pronouns. She believes this directive directly conflicts with federal law, including Title IX, IDEA, Section 504, and the ADA — placing the district at risk of losing federal funding.

“These are children who may process the world differently, but they do get it,” Grenier said. “They know when something doesn’t make sense. Forcing them to deny what they clearly see and believe is not inclusion — it’s betrayal.”

Grenier filed a workplace bullying report the same day and later provided a doctor’s note excusing her from work due to the emotional toll. She emphasizes her spotless performance record and letters of recommendation from administrators.

“I had a spotless record, strong recommendations, and deep love for my students,” Grenier said. “I resigned not because of misconduct, but because of mistreatment, intimidation, and pressure to act against my conscience. That is something I could never do.”

Grenier delivered her full remarks at the Saco School Board meeting on September 24, 2025, and says she is also sharing her story with national media outlets.