Re: FW: School Board Settles Lawsuit Brought by Family of Autistic Student

[Guest guest]

Do you know where I can find all the charges the parents filed against the school. I went to the newspaper site but only getting the end result. I am very new to the school issues and would like to see exactly what had taken place on all levels. Thank you, Marie

Subject: FW: School Board Settles Lawsuit Brought by Family of Autistic StudentTo: deniseslist Date: Tuesday, September 23, 2008, 8:33 PM

From: AutismRecoveryNetwo rkyahoogroups (DOT) com [mailto:AutismRecov eryNetwork@ yahoogroups. com] On Behalf Of Holly BortfeldSent: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 7:18 PMTo: AutismRecoveryNetwo rkyahoogroups (DOT) comSubject: [AutismRecoveryNetw ork] School Board Settles Lawsuit Brought by Family of Autistic Student

School Board Settles Lawsuit Brought by Family of Autistic Student By Chambliss for The Ledger. tiny.pl/82xm Polk County School Board members agreed unanimously Tuesday to pay $475,000 to a Lakeland family and settle a four-year-old year lawsuit over whether an autistic student was given a proper education. Earlier this year a judge ruled the School District had not provided a full education to Drew Sammons. The ruling in April ordered the district to pay up to $144,000 a year for five years to send Sammons to a private school. The School Board appealed the ruling and faced the prospect of mounting attorneys¢ fees that, for the district, have already

reached $816,000. District officials said Tuesday the $475,000 to be paid the Sammons family includes the family¢s legal expenses. In their lawsuit the Sammons family said Drew Sammons was allowed to graduate without receiving the academic instruction or training in developmental skills that the law requires disabled students be provided. Drew Sammons was diagnosed with Asperger¢s syndrome, a form of autism, when he was a young child. He attended Polk schools since kindergarten. The district has maintained that Sammons fulfilled the requirements for graduation, including passing the FCAT.

If you are not outraged, you are clearly not paying attention.