BPS reporting policy under fire
Mayor Michelle Wu said the delay in notifying a city mother that her child was seen restrained in a chair with hand-rigged nylon straps at the Condon School in Southie may lead to a review of reporting policies in BPS schools.
After spotting the child strapped to the chair rigged with nylon straps and duct tape on Feb. 14, an educator reported the incident directly to the state Department of Children and Families and skipped over the school, Wu said.
This caused a “lapse” of communication between school educators and the child’s mother, who only heard from the state agency, the mayor added during a “Java with Jimmy” podcast interview yesterday.
“That chain of who does what when, and how do we make sure that family members are the first to know, that is also a really important part of policy, and I think will be looked at here,” Wu said on the radio show.
The 3-year-old’s mother, Anacelia Cuevas, 30, said the “nightmare” incident was punitive and left her nonverbal son traumatized. She said she was only notified by DCF on Feb. 28, two weeks after the reported incident, and plans to sue the district.
On Tuesday, BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper indicated there was a “failure of communication” involving the BPS central office, the Condon School and DCF, citing the week-long school vacation the week after the incident. Skipper apologized to the mother for the “extremely jarring” way that she was notified.
Asked what policies may be reviewed, Wu said she “didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but it seems like there may have been a breach of existing policy.”
The district and DCF stated they are investigating the incident, and three staff members, including at least one teacher, have been suspended.
“There already are policies as to the very, very limited circumstances where a chair, again, that is designed for that purpose, can be used for that purpose, and that is usually tied to a specific notation and agreement and understanding with the family,” Wu said.
The chair was not designed for that purpose, having been altered with nylon straps and duct tape to resemble a makeshift highchair, Wu said.
A chair designed with straps may be used within schools for mobility or physical stability in certain scenarios specified in a child’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP), Wu said, but a hand-made chair with restraints would not be approved for those uses.
The mayor carefully clarified that the reported use of duct tape in the incident may have led to a misconception of the situation, stating there are images “when you hear certain words what you may imagine in your mind.”
“I just want to also clarify that it wasn’t a situation where duct tape was being applied to the child or arms or anything like that, but not to downplay the seriousness of it still,” Wu said.
Wu acknowledged the seriousness of the “breach of trust.”