Ocean Township school accused of 'deeply troubling' treatment of student with disabilities
OCEAN TOWNSHIP – District staff is being accused of mistreating an elementary school student with disabilities, allegedly allowing him to roam a hall naked and forcing him to be video recorded on a toilet, according to a lawsuit.
The legal complaint, filed Sept. 9 in Superior Court of Monmouth County by the boy’s parents, alleges that the abuse occurred at Ocean Township Elementary School, which serves Pre-K through 4th grade.
“The allegations in this case are deeply troubling and our clients have suffered immensely,” Armen McOmber, attorney for the family, said via email. “Simply put, the Ocean Township School District completely failed a minor student with special needs.”
The student was eight years old when the alleged abuse began in 2018 and continued through 2020, the complaint states.
The lawsuit claims that the school district “failed to abide by its duty to provide an appropriate public education to all of its students, including those with special needs requiring additional care and attention to ensure same,” the lawsuit stated, later claiming the school engaged in “half-witted staff assignments, inappropriate training and negligent supervision.”
Ocean Township Superintendent Jim Stefankiewicz declined comment on the case, stating, “As this is a student matter the district cannot comment on student matters and pending litigation.”
The child, whose name is being withheld by the Asbury Park Press because of his age and the circumstances of the claims, had been diagnosed with several physical and emotional afflictions, according to the lawsuit. Those included Down syndrome, Epilepsy, seizures, anxiety disorder, auto immune disease and autism spectrum disorder.
“Upon matriculating at Ocean Township Elementary School, (the student) was constantly met with teachers and assistants incapable of providing for students with special needs,” the complaint said. “On more than one occasion, (he) was forced to use the bathroom in front of assistants, staff, and students.”
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The lawsuit claimed the boy “also had to sit alone during lunch and during recess, and was inexplicably limited to ‘playing’ with his instructional assistant” and “on at least one specific occasion, (the instructional assistant) even took a video of (the student) while he was using the bathroom and (the district) did nothing to address such overtly exploitive, malicious and unlawful behavior.”
The 79-page lawsuit details numerous examples of what it claims are either abusive or humiliating situations involving the child.
On one occasion the student’s mother claims she was not allowed to meet with school officials after the child urinated on himself and was “rolling on the floor in his urine,” the lawsuit contends.
“This lack of action culminated in the unthinkable abuse of (the student)” by staff when in February 2020 “they paraded (him) through the hallway of the school completely naked after (school staff) refused to allow him to use the bathroom or see the nurse as he requested.”
The lawsuit adds that the child’s parents questioned his instructor’s credentials for overseeing a child with such disabilities and claims the staffer completed an art assignment for the boy and displayed it as though it had been done by the child.
“A young boy with Down Syndrome and multiple other disabilities was entitled – like every other student – to a safe and positive learning environment,” McOmber added. “Instead, as alleged in the complaint, our client was paraded around the school in humiliating fashion because of his disability. There is no excuse for such conduct and our clients look forward to their day in court.”
The student’s family moved out of Ocean Township to another community in Ocean County, the lawsuit states. It adds that the boy “has thrived and become excited to learn again. Indeed, despite an adjustment period, (he) quickly assimilated to his new environment as a direct result of the constant care and attention given to him in the classroom and often states that he is ‘safe.’”
But the lawsuit points out that he “still deals with PTSD and anxiety due to the unlawful treatment to which he was subjected by” Ocean Township district staff. He also “continues to have flashbacks and periodic negative episodes in the bathroom at school and during fire drills.”
The complaint seeks compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorney fees and court costs.
Joe Strupp is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience who covers education and several local communities for APP.com and the Asbury Park Press. He is also the author of three books, including Killing Journalism on the state of the news media, and an adjunct media professor at Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Reach him at jstrupp@gannettnj.com and at 732-413-3840. Follow him on Twitter at @joestrupp
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Ocean Township school accused of mistreating student with disabilities
