The mom of a 3-year-old boy strapped to a chair by three suspended BPS educators at a South Boston faculty final month continues to be in shock over the “punishment,” saying that the “abuse” has left her nonverbal son traumatized.
Anacelia Cuevas, 30, stated she has pulled her son out of the James F. Condon School and is planning to sue the Boston Public Schools after duct tape and nylon straps have been used to restrain her preschool-aged particular wants little one to a chair.
Contributing to the “nightmare,” Cuevas stated, was that she didn’t study of the incident for 2 weeks after it occurred, having been informed by the state Department of Children and Families somewhat than Condon faculty or district officers — that means that her son was struggling with out having the ability to talk along with her as to why.
“He was basically placed there as a punishment,” Cuevas informed the Herald. “I’m nonetheless in denial. I simply was like, this is rather like a nightmare. I nonetheless can’t imagine it. The worst half is my son not having the ability to inform me, after which somebody who’s speculated to be maintaining him secure principally torturing him.
“I just don’t know what else to say. I’m in shock. I’m still in shock.”
The incident occurred Feb. 14 on the Ok-8 faculty, after a instructor who witnessed it reported the matter to the Department of Children and Families, in keeping with Cuevas, who stated she wasn’t knowledgeable till Feb. 28, when she heard from DCF.
A letter was despatched house to pre-kindergarten households at Condon the identical day Cuevas discovered of the incident, informing them of the “inappropriate use of restraints.” The district confirmed the existence of an investigation three days later, on Sunday, and that a number of staffers have been positioned on go away.
The Herald has discovered three employees members, a minimum of considered one of whom is a instructor, have been suspended whereas the probe performs out.
Cuevas, nonetheless, stated they need to have all been fired, and was informed they have been “protected by the union” when she inquired concerning the disciplinary measure.
“It’s like a slap in the face,” the Hyde Park mom stated. “It seems like the teacher has more protection than my son at this point.”
She pulled her son, who she described as being nonverbal with signs of autism however no formal analysis, and his equivalent twin — with comparable however much less extreme signs — out of the Condon faculty and is planning to file a lawsuit.
While Superintendent of Schools Mary Skipper, who denounced the incident in a Sunday assertion, and one other district official have reached out and are working with Cuevas to discover a new faculty for her boys, she stated her choice is to enroll them in a extra “safe place” outdoors the BPS system.
The approach the restraint was carried out, Cuevas stated, indicated to her that it had been executed earlier than, in that the straps have been handmade by the instructor for an everyday chair and duct-taped to the ground.
Her son was not strapped right into a mechanical restraining chair, she stated, referring to gear designed to assist college students with bodily wants sit up in school.
Either approach, the restraint used on this occasion “is deeply concerning and goes against our values and policies as a school district,” Skipper stated in an announcement.
The letter despatched to households by a special official acknowledged that the district’s workplace of specialised providers, previously referred to as the particular training division, was in “direct contact with the school to support staff with proper district protocols regarding the use of student restraints.”
“The safety and well-being of our students is our No. 1 priority,” Skipper stated. “We understand how difficult this has been for both our student and their family, and we will continue to work directly with them to provide all the support they need to feel safe and continue learning at BPS.”
Cuevas stated the incident has left her son traumatized. He doesn’t wish to be restrained in a excessive chair at house, positioned in a stroller, or strapped in with a seat belt within the automobile.
She’s at a loss as to how one thing like this might occur to such an “innocent” boy, even when he have been having a “temper tantrum” on the time, which is the “only thing” she might consider as having led to the classroom restraint.
“I think this was malice,” Cuevas stated. “I think the intentions were to restrain my child as a form of reprimanding him, and it is abuse. It is neglect, and it’s traumatizing. So no, I don’t think it was a misunderstanding. The teacher knew exactly what she was doing, and she’s been doing it for a while.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”