Educators arrested a year after allegedly duct-taping student

A Woodstock High teacher and her classroom aide, arrested Monday for allegedly duct-taping a special education student to a chair, have left jail on bond.

Authorities say there was a one-year delay in reporting the alleged abuse of two special ed students at Woodstock High.

Courtesy of Cherokee Sheriff's Office

Laurie Peavy.

Courtesy of Cherokee Sheriff's Office

Nancy Cheek.

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Laurie Peavy, 44, of Woodstock, was charged with two counts each of false imprisonment and first-degree cruelty to children, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office said. Teacher’s aide Nancy Cheek, 49, also of Woodstock, was charged with one count each.

Two staff members who came forward last week with information about the teacher and the aide won’t face charges.

“Teachers are mandated to report abuse,” said Lt. Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office. “The decision not to charge them was made based on the fact that had they not come forward, we would not have a case. Certainly, we wish they would have come forward earlier.”

The staff members, who are expected to testify in the case, still could face discipline from the school system, according to school spokesman Mike McCowan.

The staff members, another special ed teacher and paraprofessional, reported the incidents last week after learning the students were about to be reassigned to Peavy’s classroom, Baker said.

The Sheriff’s Office said Peavy and Cheek duct-taped a 17-year-old autistic boy to a chair. Peavy also is accused of confining a 17-year-old blind girl under a table.

“The teacher would pull up her chair and keep her confined underneath the table against her will,” Baker said.

Peavy was hired by the school system in 1997 and taught at Cherokee High until moving to Woodstock High in 2001. Cheek was hired in 2001 and has worked at Woodstock High ever since.

They have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of a school system investigation, McGowan said. A committee will look at the findings and make a recommendation to the superintendent.

“It’s highly likely, in my opinion, that based upon the nature of these charges and the fact that they were arrested, that the committee will probably recommend termination,” McGowan said.