BREMERTON — As part of a lawsuit filed against the Bremerton School District, a special education teacher alleges that in 2017 she was confined alone in a classroom with a 7-year-old autistic student who had assaulted her.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of Kitsap Lake Elementary School teacher Wendy Maki does not address the allegation that she was confined in the room at Kitsap Lake Elementary on September 26, 2017, though another suit may follow.

Rather, it alleges that as Maki’s attorney Deborah Boe investigated the allegations the district failed to provide documents as required by the state Public Records Act. Maki remains on medical leave, Boe said.

Since filing the lawsuit in February in Kitsap County Superior Court, Boe said the district has turned over more documents. Boe said the district could be liable for penalties.

“Whether it was good faith or bad faith will be litigated at the penalty hearing, but they did not provide the documents,” Boe said.

District spokeswoman Karen Bevers said in an email that the district is “investigating and supplementing its prior responses.”

Boe started requesting documents in November 2017. State law allows penalties of up to $100 a day for documents that are unlawfully withheld.

In documents obtained by the Kitsap Sun, Maki alleged that she told the school principal, Susan Kay Stone, that she did not want to be confined in the room. The documents containing the allegations were written by Maki and include emails she wrote to union officials on the day of the alleged incident.

Boe had requested Bremerton police investigate the claim for a possible crime and the department assigned the case to the officer who works in the schools. No arrests were made. Maki did not make a statement to police, according to documents, because of the emotional strain. Boe said she continues to suffer effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.

School employees struggled to contain the boy’s behavior, according to documents. He was known to try to run away from school and could also fly into rages and punch and kick staff.

Maki wrote in the documents that the room was stripped of all unnecessary furnishings and equipment.

“I told my building administrator that I would not barricade myself in,” Maki wrote in notes from the time of the alleged incidents.

“I further told her that I was uncomfortable with the plan and didn't believe it to be safe or keeping with district policies,” Maki wrote. “My building administrator locked me in the room with the student using a modified fire hose which she slipped over the door hinge. This was done against my will.”

The door to the classroom was not locked, but instead a short length of fire hose was slipped over the hydraulic arm that prevents the door from slamming. The lengths of hoses were provided to schools as part of a safety plan. In case of an active shooter they could be used to prevent an intruder from entering classrooms. When installed they prevent the door from being fully opened. The door on the special education classroom opened into the hallway, however, so the hydraulic arm was on the outside.

The district said in a statement that it takes seriously its duty to care for students, values its teachers and acknowledges that some students can present “unique challenges.”

“To the best of our knowledge, no teacher was ever physically barred or confined in a classroom with a dangerous student against that teacher’s will,” Bevers said in the statement.

Maki wrote that she believed she was assaulted during the time, based on accounts she gave to others, “But I have gaps in my memory from this day,” she wrote. However, she wrote that she recalled being assaulted by the boy on other occasions and suffered physical injuries as well.

Maki further wrote that she told Stone she wanted the hose taken down, which Stone did. “Then, she put it up again,” Maki wrote.

Stone resigned at the end of the 2017-2018 school year and was not terminated, according to the district. She was a finalist for a job in August 2018 at North Beach Junior/Senior High School in Ocean Shores but was not hired, according to the North Coast News. A phone number for Stone, included in police reports, has been disconnected.

Prior to using the fire hose, Stone told the police officer, school employees were trying to hold the door shut but the boy was on the other side, trying to open it. Stone said she was concerned he could be injured. Reports said that with the hose over the hydraulic arm the boy damaged the door and was able to open it a few inches, enough to put his hand or body into the gap. The school nurse was called to check him for injuries.

“Mrs. Stone never had any intention of locking Wendy in the room with” the boy, the officer wrote.

As part of Boe’s investigation, she requested surveillance video footage of the hallway which could show who came and went from the room over the course of the day. However, the district provided about 2 1/2 hours rather than the whole day. Boe said it appears the rest of the footage was deleted or recorded over.

The officer asked another employee present that day if Maki ever yelled or screamed to be let out. The employee said that Maki did not, and told the officer she thought Maki’s allegation was “absolutely ridiculous.”

However, that employee wrote in a statement that she found herself alone in the room with the boy. She wanted Maki to open a side door so she could leave, but the woman wrote that Maki did not respond when she began pounding on the door. The employee wrote that she didn’t feel that she was in “imminent danger” but was concerned the boy would “attack” if she tried to exit through the hall door.