What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Carolina
Last evening, near bedtime me 10 year old son (who has been diagnosed as PDD-NOS (he has high functioning autism) started telling me about how strong a teacher was at a school, that could lift a big kid up. He then showed me a large reddish bruise on the inner part of his arm and told me that his teacher had done it. I asked him exactly what happened and he told me that he didn't want to go to social studies, and that this teacher yelled at him and picked him up by the arms and pushed him into the wall. This is a male teacher, and he is actually the teacher for the resource room at the school, and in that room, he works with children that have IEP's all day. My son does have an IEP.
I have had a few other issues with the school. The school does still allow corporal punishment. I had to sign forms for my 4 children that attend so that they would not be spanked. Apparently this is still legal in NC. There have been a few other incidents that were upsetting to me, and I have tried addressing them with the school and I feel like my concerns have been minimized by them. For instance, last year a cafeteria monitor told the whole cafeteria that if they did not behave, she would paddle them like she had paddled my 10 year old that morning. Now, my son was not paddled, but obviously it was completely inappropriate for her to publicly humiliate him in that way. She did admit to saying it when I confronted her, and apologized. My son has also been moved to a special education bus. This bus gets to my house at 6:30 AM because it has to pick up kids from all over. School does not start until 8. We live 2 miles from the school. The reason he has to ride this bus (and he has not been as I have rearranged my schedule in order to drive him. He does still have to ride it home, and it's a similar long ride in the evening) is that kids were picking on him on the regular bus, and I was complaining. It was easier for them to move him, then to deal with the bullying that was happening. I feel like this punished him somewhat, and he told me that he wishes he wouldn't have told anyone that the kids were bothering him.
So last night, I was obviously upset, and I called the police. I realize I could have contacted the school first this morning, but I feel like they have brushed me off in the past when I have had concerns, and I wanted to be sure that this was treated as a serious incident. When telling the Police the story, my son also told them that when he showed the teacher the mark, the teacher told him it would go away in a minute. This man knew that he had injured my son, and no one contacted me. I feel like if this were an incident where force was neccessary to protect my child, then I should have been notified. No one called me, and there was no communication sent home in his backpack.
My main question here is, what can I expect from the school? I would love to be able to move, but unfortunately, it just isn't a possibility. I own my home, and as many people are right now, I am upside down so far in the loan that I couldn't sell without taking a huge loss. I am a student, and my husband is currently recieving unemployment after being laid off from a factory that closed here. Things are very tight. What I would like to happen at a minimum, after the teacher is dealt with, is for my son to be allowed to attend a different school in the district. I also feel that they should offer bussing. I don't feel safe with him at this school anymore. What are my rights here, and what are my son's rights?
Last evening, near bedtime me 10 year old son (who has been diagnosed as PDD-NOS (he has high functioning autism) started telling me about how strong a teacher was at a school, that could lift a big kid up. He then showed me a large reddish bruise on the inner part of his arm and told me that his teacher had done it. I asked him exactly what happened and he told me that he didn't want to go to social studies, and that this teacher yelled at him and picked him up by the arms and pushed him into the wall. This is a male teacher, and he is actually the teacher for the resource room at the school, and in that room, he works with children that have IEP's all day. My son does have an IEP.
I have had a few other issues with the school. The school does still allow corporal punishment. I had to sign forms for my 4 children that attend so that they would not be spanked. Apparently this is still legal in NC. There have been a few other incidents that were upsetting to me, and I have tried addressing them with the school and I feel like my concerns have been minimized by them. For instance, last year a cafeteria monitor told the whole cafeteria that if they did not behave, she would paddle them like she had paddled my 10 year old that morning. Now, my son was not paddled, but obviously it was completely inappropriate for her to publicly humiliate him in that way. She did admit to saying it when I confronted her, and apologized. My son has also been moved to a special education bus. This bus gets to my house at 6:30 AM because it has to pick up kids from all over. School does not start until 8. We live 2 miles from the school. The reason he has to ride this bus (and he has not been as I have rearranged my schedule in order to drive him. He does still have to ride it home, and it's a similar long ride in the evening) is that kids were picking on him on the regular bus, and I was complaining. It was easier for them to move him, then to deal with the bullying that was happening. I feel like this punished him somewhat, and he told me that he wishes he wouldn't have told anyone that the kids were bothering him.
So last night, I was obviously upset, and I called the police. I realize I could have contacted the school first this morning, but I feel like they have brushed me off in the past when I have had concerns, and I wanted to be sure that this was treated as a serious incident. When telling the Police the story, my son also told them that when he showed the teacher the mark, the teacher told him it would go away in a minute. This man knew that he had injured my son, and no one contacted me. I feel like if this were an incident where force was neccessary to protect my child, then I should have been notified. No one called me, and there was no communication sent home in his backpack.
My main question here is, what can I expect from the school? I would love to be able to move, but unfortunately, it just isn't a possibility. I own my home, and as many people are right now, I am upside down so far in the loan that I couldn't sell without taking a huge loss. I am a student, and my husband is currently recieving unemployment after being laid off from a factory that closed here. Things are very tight. What I would like to happen at a minimum, after the teacher is dealt with, is for my son to be allowed to attend a different school in the district. I also feel that they should offer bussing. I don't feel safe with him at this school anymore. What are my rights here, and what are my son's rights?
