The parents of a 5-year-old boy with autism who had been charged with felony assault in Tennessee have filed a lawsuit after a school administrator refused to back down.
The boy had been enrolled at Sumner County’s H.B. Williams Elementary School in the kindergarten class, and school officials were made aware of his special needs.
‘Resorting to legal actions to punish parents for the actions of a 5-year-old child who still needs those supports — that’s just not the way to go.’
The parents said they asked for behavioral support and federal law requires schools to provide extra resources, but the school officials refused and said they would gather their own evidence, according to the lawsuit.
The school agreed to providing an aide after several behavioral incidents involving pushing, shoving, and throwing objects at other children.
The parents said the support came too late.
“When you don’t provide those supports, you can deny rights not only to the child with a disability, but you can risk harming other children,” said Justin Gilbert, the attorney for the family. “It’s a key reminder that there are broad consequences to not providing supports and interventions and paraprofessional roles and special education.”
The child was charged with felony aggravated assault by a school resource officer, but a judge rejected the charges in court in April. He said the child was not competent to stand trial.
Then two of the parents of the boy’s classmates filed their own petitions to charge the child. One of those parents is a Sumner County high school assistant principal.
Gilbert described the case as a “little bit unusual.”
One of the petitions was dropped, but the other by the school official moved forward.
The plaintiffs called the motion “pure vengeance” against the parents and the child.
“Resorting to legal actions to punish parents for the actions of a 5-year-old child who still needs those supports — that’s just not the way to go,” Gilbert added.
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The parents are now suing the district for allegedly violating the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as other federal statues.
“Sometimes you need to stand up for your kids,” Gilbert added. “Sometimes you need to punch the bully back in the mouth, and that’s what the parents are doing here.”
WKRN-TV reached out to Sumner County Schools, the Sumner County district attorney, and the assistant principal for comment.
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Autism, Special needs, Tennessee, Schools, Crime
