THE STORY:
Our family is facing one of the hardest situations we’ve ever experienced. Our 13-year-old son is diagnosed with Autism, ADHD, and DMDD. He is an amazing kid with a huge heart, but like many neurodivergent children, he struggles emotionally when overwhelmed, especially in situations involving bullying, stress, or sudden change. He has an intensive IEP and BIP for school. Our family has collectively worked on his IEP for years to ensure his schools could properly handle him and avoid serious incidents.
Earlier this year, we moved to a new county and enrolled him in a new school. We worked hard to ensure the school understood his intensive IEP, behavioral plan, and support needs so he could transition successfully. Unfortunately, things quickly became difficult.
My son was unable to start at his new school for over a week. Despite my constant efforts to advocate for him, the school continued to provide delays. One of those delays was the claim that they needed time to review his IEP. I offered multiple times to come in and go over the IEP with them and explained that he thrives on structure and these delays were causing setbacks for him. Eventually, I sent an email and copied in the principal, vice principal, and several county school board members, including the director of the ESE department. I informed them that they were breaking the law by delaying his enrollment based on the existence of an IEP, per IDEA and Section 504. I requested confirmation of his start date immediately and advised them to send a written notice of explanation if a start date could not be provided. The vice principal responded and advised that he could start the following day (2/3) after we had a meeting.
2/3- first day of school. During that meeting, my son was directly threatened with “expulsion and recommendation of an alternative school” if he did not follow the school’s rules. Additionally, he was put on a “probationary period” where he was made to wait after every class for the hallways to clear and be escorted to his next class by a staff member. He was not allowed to go anywhere, even the restroom, without a staff escort, for weeks. They didn’t even know my son, but they singled him out and treated him as if he was dangerous.
FAST FORWARD TO WED 5/13
(We found out some of the following details on 5/21)
According to the school, my son was roaming the hallways, looking for his backpack, while he was supposed to be in class. At some point, he ran into another student in the hallway that he is not known to hang around with. Apparently, my son and this student "hit it off" and proceeded to roam the school together, and appeared to be having a lot of fun. They ran up and down stairwells, laughed, and even went out on the field and played soccer with another PE class for 12 minutes. No one noticed. This was found on the video cameras after the incident. Right before the dismissal bell, my son and his friend are seen on camera "sprinting" out of the building 7 tunnel and almost running into "student A". This student apparently stepped to the side and continued walking, heading up the stairs. My son allegedly made a statement to 'student A' and that prompted the student to come back down the stairs and approach my son. A 2-3 minute conversation was had between the boys. The school states that this conversation seemed friendly, but the cameras do not have sound. They are seen laughing and then part ways again, at which point, another unknown comment is made, and they head back towards each other. This is where things appear to escalate, but no one knows what is being said. My son appears to be getting pretty worked up. A teacher hears the commotion and steps out of her class. "Student A" leaves and heads back to class, and the teacher attempts to calm my son. The dismissal bell rings and my son walks around the teacher. The teacher notifies other staff.
Over the next several minutes, my son walks around campus, visibly upset. According to the school, several teachers and staff members are following him and trying to calm him down, but they allow him to continue walking as they had already escorted "Student A" to the office, just in case, and they did not feel that anyone was in danger. Kyden makes his way towards the bus loop, where the Dean states that him, the school resource officer, and the principal were able to keep him contained to one area by simply stepping in front of him each time he tried to go around them. At this point, my son has shut down, become nonverbal, and stopped responding to commands. This is typical behavior of children with Autism in these situations. There are steps outlined in his IEP and BIP on how to handle him during these times. These steps were not properly followed.
The Dean states that he was instructed to leave to help direct the children onto their buses. Minutes later, he notices that the children have gathered near the area he left. He returns to that area to find the school resource officer and the school principal restraining my son against the fence. He starts directing the other children away.
During this restraint, the principal was allegedly hurt. The claim is “visible red marks from being pushed against the fence." The principal made it very clear over the phone that she was pressing charges. She had him arrested for a FELONY (battery against a public school official) and a misdemeanor charge (resisting without violence). He was released to me on intensive home confinement, meaning that he is not permitted to leave the house at all. Due to this (we cannot leave a neurodivergent child home alone for 10 hours every day), court mandated psych evaluations, random home visits, etc. I have been unable to work and I am unable to follow a set work schedule, without being allowed time off for every incident to come. Without stating too much more, to protect our legal standing, there is a lot more to this story and a lot more to come of this situation.
Because of this situation, our family is now facing overwhelming legal expenses, court requirements, and major disruptions to daily life and work. We are raising funds to help cover attorney fees and related costs as we fight to protect our son and his future.
Every shirt purchased, donation made, or share means more than we can express. Thank you for standing with our family during this incredibly difficult time.
Earlier this year, we moved to a new county and enrolled him in a new school. We worked hard to ensure the school understood his intensive IEP, behavioral plan, and support needs so he could transition successfully. Unfortunately, things quickly became difficult.
My son was unable to start at his new school for over a week. Despite my constant efforts to advocate for him, the school continued to provide delays. One of those delays was the claim that they needed time to review his IEP. I offered multiple times to come in and go over the IEP with them and explained that he thrives on structure and these delays were causing setbacks for him. Eventually, I sent an email and copied in the principal, vice principal, and several county school board members, including the director of the ESE department. I informed them that they were breaking the law by delaying his enrollment based on the existence of an IEP, per IDEA and Section 504. I requested confirmation of his start date immediately and advised them to send a written notice of explanation if a start date could not be provided. The vice principal responded and advised that he could start the following day (2/3) after we had a meeting.
2/3- first day of school. During that meeting, my son was directly threatened with “expulsion and recommendation of an alternative school” if he did not follow the school’s rules. Additionally, he was put on a “probationary period” where he was made to wait after every class for the hallways to clear and be escorted to his next class by a staff member. He was not allowed to go anywhere, even the restroom, without a staff escort, for weeks. They didn’t even know my son, but they singled him out and treated him as if he was dangerous.
FAST FORWARD TO WED 5/13
(We found out some of the following details on 5/21)
According to the school, my son was roaming the hallways, looking for his backpack, while he was supposed to be in class. At some point, he ran into another student in the hallway that he is not known to hang around with. Apparently, my son and this student "hit it off" and proceeded to roam the school together, and appeared to be having a lot of fun. They ran up and down stairwells, laughed, and even went out on the field and played soccer with another PE class for 12 minutes. No one noticed. This was found on the video cameras after the incident. Right before the dismissal bell, my son and his friend are seen on camera "sprinting" out of the building 7 tunnel and almost running into "student A". This student apparently stepped to the side and continued walking, heading up the stairs. My son allegedly made a statement to 'student A' and that prompted the student to come back down the stairs and approach my son. A 2-3 minute conversation was had between the boys. The school states that this conversation seemed friendly, but the cameras do not have sound. They are seen laughing and then part ways again, at which point, another unknown comment is made, and they head back towards each other. This is where things appear to escalate, but no one knows what is being said. My son appears to be getting pretty worked up. A teacher hears the commotion and steps out of her class. "Student A" leaves and heads back to class, and the teacher attempts to calm my son. The dismissal bell rings and my son walks around the teacher. The teacher notifies other staff.
Over the next several minutes, my son walks around campus, visibly upset. According to the school, several teachers and staff members are following him and trying to calm him down, but they allow him to continue walking as they had already escorted "Student A" to the office, just in case, and they did not feel that anyone was in danger. Kyden makes his way towards the bus loop, where the Dean states that him, the school resource officer, and the principal were able to keep him contained to one area by simply stepping in front of him each time he tried to go around them. At this point, my son has shut down, become nonverbal, and stopped responding to commands. This is typical behavior of children with Autism in these situations. There are steps outlined in his IEP and BIP on how to handle him during these times. These steps were not properly followed.
The Dean states that he was instructed to leave to help direct the children onto their buses. Minutes later, he notices that the children have gathered near the area he left. He returns to that area to find the school resource officer and the school principal restraining my son against the fence. He starts directing the other children away.
During this restraint, the principal was allegedly hurt. The claim is “visible red marks from being pushed against the fence." The principal made it very clear over the phone that she was pressing charges. She had him arrested for a FELONY (battery against a public school official) and a misdemeanor charge (resisting without violence). He was released to me on intensive home confinement, meaning that he is not permitted to leave the house at all. Due to this (we cannot leave a neurodivergent child home alone for 10 hours every day), court mandated psych evaluations, random home visits, etc. I have been unable to work and I am unable to follow a set work schedule, without being allowed time off for every incident to come. Without stating too much more, to protect our legal standing, there is a lot more to this story and a lot more to come of this situation.
Because of this situation, our family is now facing overwhelming legal expenses, court requirements, and major disruptions to daily life and work. We are raising funds to help cover attorney fees and related costs as we fight to protect our son and his future.
Every shirt purchased, donation made, or share means more than we can express. Thank you for standing with our family during this incredibly difficult time.