Teachers, Principal Disciplined After Student With Autism Given ‘Most Annoying’ Award

An Indiana school principal has been placed on administrative leave and three teachers' jobs are in jeopardy after a student with autism was given an award for the “most annoying male” by his special education teacher.

According to a press release issued by the Gary School District Friday, the principal of Bailly Preparatory Academy was placed on leave and three teachers were served with "preliminary determination notice of contract cancellation" as a result of the award, which stunned the community and the boy's parents.

Estella and Rick Castejon, of Gary, said their son Akalis received the award along with one other student during a fifth-grade event on May 23.

In a statement Friday night, the Gary Community School Corporation said that its internal investigation, led by outside legal counsel, resulted in the teachers potentially having their contracts terminated, and the principal of the school was also placed on leave pending an additional investigation.

"Our main concern is the well-being of the children who have been entrusted to us," District Emergency Manager Dr. Pete Morikis said in a statement. "Their safety, physically and emotionally, is our top priority."

"When I saw it, I had to take a double take at it," Estella Castejon said in an earlier interview with NBC 5. "I wasn’t sure if my eyes were reading it correctly."

“Bailey Preparatory Academy 2018-2019 Most Annoying Male,” the award read.

Thankfully, the parents said they don’t believe their son understood what he won the award for, despite having been bullied before.

“He wanted it just because it was a nice, shiny star,” Rick Castejon said. “That was it.”

The parents said they were shocked the staff at Bailly Preparatory Academy allowed such an award to be given to their child, who is nonverbal and can become emotional at times.