How can I handle my 9-year-old being assaulted by a 14-year-old with Down syndrome at school? #Assault #SchoolSafety #LegalAdvice
What steps should I take if my daughter was attacked during recess by an older student with special needs who was unsupervised on the playground? #Parenting #SpecialEducation #ChildSafety
Should I consult with a lawyer after my daughter was physically harmed by a student with a history of inappropriate behavior in a school setting? #LegalAction #ParentalConcerns #SchoolLiability
What measures can I take to ensure my daughter’s safety and well-being at school following this traumatic experience? #ChildProtection #SchoolSecurity #SafetyMeasures
>she had no bruising
take a breath before making any decisions
She needs to be taught self defense. Special needs or not, if he grabs her again, she deserves to defend herself and not be punished for it.
Retired PoPo here. I had a very similar experience on an assault call. Two special needs children antagonize each other on a bus. One bit the others’ finger.
I arrived at the scene and took the info in our jurisdiction the District Attorney must approve all charges before arrest. The DA declined charges due to a lack of culpability. I still did an incident report and told the complainants’ parents that it became a civil matter.
You need a police report for documentation and an attorney to force the school to keep the older child away from the younger ones, or they’ll just bury it.
Schools don’t like a lot of “campus crime” as they can be designated as a dangerous campus, and that has an effect on federal $$$$$$$$
I would for sure file a report to the police, and then go to a PTA, or some sort of meeting and demand that they make some kind of change. A school’s biggest fear is bad publicity, so I would definitely get the police involved and potentially even an attorney. Not to get the kid in trouble, but you want to hold accountability for the school. If it’s common knowledge to parents that this child with down syndrome has these behavioral issues, there is definitely a lack of oversight on the staff’s part. The hope would be that they would reset standards on supervision during that time of the day, people think that recess is a time to just chill and do nothing for the staff, but recess is when a lot of crazy stuff can happen. When I was 12, I got pushed off the monkey bars, but my foot got caught, so the wood siding completely tore up my leg and it took about 15 minutes for an adult to find me gushing blood. After that, I almost never went to recess or more than a certain distance away from the doors, because I was afraid of something like that happened again, it could have turned out worse. Children need to know that they can feel safe in that environment, knowing that an adult is nearby. But they also need to know that an adult is there to keep an eye on them as well, so that they don’t do those things. Hope your daughter is okay and that she heals from that trauma 🙏🏼
I work with kids similar to this at a public school. Where are you located? Downs people can range from low IQ to normal and even high IQ. The normal is a low IQ. They definitely know the difference between right and wrong. If they were so low that they might not then they shouldn’t be in a regular ed classroom. It’s completely insane to have a kid that age in a classroom as downs kids can be hypersexual. I have to speak to one of my kids about appropriate sexual behavior in school from time to time. He gets it. I would be very concerned about multiple types of abuse here. Is this a public school?
I would be calling the school district super, the police, & CPS. NAL but the school having a janitor supervising children when actual teachers need a masters degree & all this dude needed is a background clearance with zero credentials in child supervision, is wild. Not only that, a 14 year old who requires additional support not having that support & supervision with these known issues of being inappropriate? I’m angry for you. I hope your family & daughter get the resolve you deserve. I’d 100% be switching my kid’s school because this one is clearly inadequate.
I really hope you have contacted the police and a good lawyer by now.
Police report and consult with a lawyer. screw the school.
This happened to my sister years back. The boy tried to rape her after attacking her, she was pretty physically fit at the time and was able to get away eventually. She filed a police report and they arrested him ( he was 16 with extreme developmental disabilities ). His mother apologized and thanked my sister for reporting it. The report forced child services to put him in the specialized care he needed ( according to the mother ). Consequently, this is also when we discovered the police station was mostly vacant at night.
Though no one has been assualted at my son’s school there is a child similar to this there. Going to parent teacher interviews I asked why there was a number of holes in classroom and hallway walls and my son told me it was the overage child with down syndrome in the school who goes crazy and starts breaking things. He’s also broken a mirror in one of the bathrooms as well as a window on the door to the playyard.
Not an attorney…
But I see a lawsuit against the school and a fat payday in your future.
Find a good lawyer. They will be fighting each other for this case
Kids with down syndrome tend to very bold in terms of physical force.. was once strangled from the back while I was sitting in a park by an unmonitored kid.
NOT AN ATTORNEY – Just a mom, teacher, and former principal:
There’s plenty you can do:
1) Make a police report as it should be documented and will likely prompt the child’s support team to look at placements in school and accommodations. The police won’t be able to do much even though he’s 14 because it’s doubtful he meets the criminal standard for knowing right from wrong. That said, he doesn’t get a pass to assault others. He may need a 1:1 IA or other support and a police report might be the thing to get the ball rolling. It’s also possible his parents have wanted more support and haven’t received it. I wouldn’t assume they are against additional services.
2) Make a formal complaint at the district office using their Uniform Complaint procedures. This will get the higher ups involved. Reference school safety and use words like assault, medical bills, emotional trauma and other buzz words that force action.
3) Another option to help your daughter is to volunteer during recess/lunch for a few days if that’s possible. In our district, you have to do paperwork to volunteer, but it wasn’t hard to do. OR, if you can, go to the school at her recess/lunch time(s) and bring lunch/treat with you for her and a couple friends (again if allowed). I’m betting the principal will help facilitate anything that makes you happy.
You will never know if this boy has a history of attacking others, so I would approach this as if he does to be on the safe side. Downs syndrome children in my experience aren’t violent, but school can be a very stimulating place. Also, if he’s 14, depending upon the district’s programs, he may be better suited in a middle or junior high school setting.
My other concern is why or what preceded his actions. Does your daughter remind him of someone? Did she do or say something that triggered him? I’d be concerned because if it’s a trigger and isn’t addressed he may go after her again if unsupervised. Lastly, I’d really make sure your daughter knows she didn’t do anything wrong, is safe, and I’d give her some strategies should something like this happen again.
I work at a school….. You could also file a report with DCFS against the school for neglect. The kids were not being properly monitored and it resulted in a physical incident that could have been avoided.
In my very strong opinion, not only should you file a police report but you should push for charges to be pressed against him.
Children with special needs/ mental disabilities still need to be held accountable for their actions in most cases. (Even though I think in all but that’s not always realistic) I think of this mother on tiktok who has a son with autism and he’s about 6’4 and 250 pounds and she lets him choke her and carry scissors out in public when he’s known to be violent.
Just because a child has a disability doesn’t mean they don’t need to be held accountable. All children are teachable.
I would call the police too–not because they will do anything to the boy (they won’t), but to make a report. Sometimes it takes a police report to make the school take action.
I don’t know if they have this in elementary school, but I had it in MS/HS. Talk to the school about what their version of a no contact order is. Basically its so that they won’t be interacting or allowed near each other anymore, your child deserves to feel safe to learn at school. If the school gives you pushback about this, threaten to sue. Above all else, make sure every conversation has a paper trail so they can’t cover their asses. You should also take the other advice, but I really wanted to chime in about your child feeling safe continuing to go to school
Police, the school is restricted with what they can do to an iep kid. At least that’s what they will say.
First, instruct the school to put a spoliation hold on the video.
You need to go to the police about the punch, masturbation, and touching. You also need to escalate this to the superintendent and BoE. You may need to eventually find an education attorney.
I would contact an attorney. I’d want that footage to be preserved. I would also focus my efforts on what the school has done wrong here. The school did not provide adequate supervision to protect your daughter and she was assaulted by a much older child with a disability. The other child doesn’t sound like he’s in the most appropriate placement for himself either. I suspect he is in an elementary school, because they don’t have appropriate programming for him in the middle/high school. I don’t know where you’re located but odds are there is a more appropriate placement for him somewhere that the school doesn’t want to pay for. So they came up with the plan of putting him in the elementary school. That’s not adequate for the 14 year old, and it enabled the assault on your child to occur.
This is 100% the school’s fault and you should find the best lawyer you can and sue the school. Also get your child moved into another local school or pull her out for homeschooling because this school is clearly not safe and the staff are not making good decisions for the minors they are responsible for. The school employees also may try to retaliate against your daughter for your response to this and she doesn’t deserve that, so it’s a good idea to start looking for a new school to transfer to.
This is not okay, regardless of how low-functioning the Downs kid is and how little he knows about what he’s doing.
The problem is that the adults who are responsible for managing the situation and protecting your daughter and other neurotypical kids who are just at school to learn have failed in their duty.
The reasons why don’t matter. What needs to happen is to dispense with their excuses and mainstreaming rationale, if they can’t manage an older and physically much larger and stronger kid who has challenges, and it’s too the detriment and endangerment of other students, you’ll have to force them.
While parents of children with disabilities are the ones most commonly bringing lawsuits to make sure their kids are properly accommodated, you can do the same– file a police report to establish a record (for accountability for the school admins, not to pursue assault charges against the student, important distinction!), discuss with the school admins what they are going to do to protect your daughter and her peers without depriving them of any element of their rightful school experience, and if the school administrators don’t devise and implement an effective plan to accomplish this, an attorney should be able to assist in forcing them to do so.
If there are any medical bills you’ve incurred as a result of the attack, it’s not unreasonable to expect the school to cover the cost.
I wouldn’t be too surprised if you could get an attorney specializing in equal rights/accommodations law to assist, because it’s basically the same type of law, and the school is doing a massive disservice to the Downs kid too, and it’s probably not in just how he’s behaving inappropriately around the neurotypical students. His IEP and staffing needed to assist with his needs are almost certainly lacking if he’s running amok.
Police.
Consult a lawyer
None of these people know what the fuck they’re talking about please just contact an attorney who sues schools in your area. Before you file any type of report with anyone.
The school may be getting additional funding to take the student with Downs syndrome. So they have an incentive to keep this under wraps.
Agree with others recommending a police report. This individual should be in special education in middle or high school, not elementary, at the age of 14.
Curious what state is this in. Some states will investigate the school for Lack of Supervision by the school.
As a x para is you keep it within the school they will do everything possible to sweep this under the rug.
Go to the police
I’m so sorry that happened to your daughter
Get a lawyer and see if you can go after the district’s special education department for keeping a 8th grader on a campus I assume tops out at 5th grade with no supervision.