Teacher pushed special needs boy on floor, had students hit and drag him, lawsuit says
The parents of a Pennsylvania student are suing his school district after they say their son’s teacher physically abused him.
The lawsuit, filed Feb. 27 in federal court, names Scranton School District as the defendant.
The parents of the student, who was a fifth grader at the time, say a teacher at South Scranton Intermediate School repeatedly abused their son.
The boy lives with multiple disabilities, including autism, speech and language impairments, ADHD and health issues, according to the lawsuit.
On Jan. 2, 2023, the boy was sitting in his chair in class when the teacher walked over to him and sprayed a liquid substance in his face, according to the lawsuit. This was seen by a behavior support professional assigned to the student, the lawsuit said.
When the teacher sprayed the student, she said, “This should wake him up,” according to the complaint. She then said, “This worked before in waking him up,” indicating it wasn’t the first time she had sprayed him.
The next day, the teacher walked over to the boy in his chair and “intentionally shoved him with her body,” causing him to fall to the floor, according to the complaint.
She then directed and encouraged the other students in the class to “forcibly remove” the boy from the room by dragging him by his feet to the hallway, according to the lawsuit. She is accused of directing the students to hit the boy while dragging him.
“Our pre-complaint investigation showed that these allegations are untrue and/or misinformed. The school district will aggressively defend itself and its employees,” a representative from the school told McClatchy News in an email.
Between August 2021 and January 2023, the boy’s mother repeatedly met with the teacher and school district officials asking that her son be placed into another classroom, according to the lawsuit.
This came after the teacher told the mother on numerous occasions that she was “not equipped for this job,” the complaint said. However, the student was not removed from the class until Jan. 4, 2023, after the behavior support professional reported the incidents to the school.
The teacher is also accused of using profanities against the students, calling one special education student “Big (expletive) forehead,” the lawsuit said.
The teacher was removed from the school in January 2023, and a police report was filed, the complaint said. However in the spring, the teacher was able to return and resumed working at the school.
The school representative said the teacher was “assigned to home” while the incidents were investigated by the school district and outside agencies. She said the investigation found the claims to be unfounded.
The lawsuit is asking for an undetermined amount in damages.
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