Parent sues district over expulsion of 7-year-old son
The parent of a boy who was expelled from the Mars Area School District when he was 7 is suing the district, several administrators and some school board members, seeking legal fees, damages and private school tuition.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court, accuses the district of ignoring information the parent provided about the child’s disabilities and of physically and psychologically abusing the boy.
The boy, identified by the initials C.L., entered Mars Area Primary Center for first grade after attending the Hearts Prints Center for Early Education in Cranberry, where he received behavioral health rehabilitation services. Before school started, his parent told Mars Area officials that the boy was diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and requested an Individualized Education Program.
The lawsuit contends that the district delayed the IEP, wanting to observe C.L. in class first. Instead of agreeing to an IEP, the district recommended that C.L. be placed in alternative schooling. His parent, identified only as K.B., wanted him to remain in Mars Area with an IEP.
C.L. was suspended twice in September 2014 for acting out, the suit says. “On Sept. 30, 2014, the principal grabbed C.L. forcibly by the arm and dragged him down the hallway in front of C.L.’s classmates, causing him fear and humiliation,” the lawsuit contends. Physical force, including pulling his arms, pressing forcibly on his shoulders and wrenching his torso occurred additional times, the suit states.
The district assigned an aide to C.L. the following month, but the aide was not trained in behavioral management, according to the suit. Also in October 2014, the school moved C.L.’s desk away from other students and implemented a “safe room” for him, the suit said.
“This room was used to shut C.L. in a locked cubicle away from the other school children for in excess of three hours in essentially a solitary confinement with no tutor,” the lawsuit states.
On Oct. 10, school officials called police and had C.L. removed from the school by an officer, according to the suit. He was suspended again on Oct. 20.
A week later, he allegedly pushed a student and flipped a chair. A committee comprising three members of the school board then voted to expel C.L. for the rest of the school year.
“The school district and school board has a continuing pattern and practice of discriminating against disabled children, and this is evidenced by their expulsion of a child and other children for misconduct that clearly arises from a disability,” the lawsuit states.
The parent appealed the expulsion, and state special education hearing officer Anne L. Carroll agreed with the parent and ordered Mars Area to reinstate him. The case then proceeded to federal court, which remanded the case to another special education hearing to determine if a “free appropriate public education” had been denied to C.L.
In his June 21, 2016, opinion, hearing officer Jake McElligott said it was “mind boggling” that Mars Area did not reach the conclusion that the child’s behavior was a manifestation of his disability and ruled that the district had denied C.L. a free appropriate public education. Mr. McElligott ordered the district to draft an IEP for C.L. and, until that is done, pay the tuition at the parochial school he was attending.
In addition to legal fees and punitive and compensatory damages, the suit seeks the private school tuition the parent has paid as well as future tuition. The suit notes that C.L. is doing well in the private school.
Mars Area officials would not comment on the lawsuit. Named as defendants are: Adam Kostewicz, principal of the primary center at the time, who is currently at Mars Area Centennial School; school psychologist Richard Glosser; guidance counselor Eileen Deklewa; special education director Deborah Adams; then-superintendent William Pettigrew; and the nine board members at the time of the expulsion.