Parents of Port St. Lucie autistic boy claim abuse in lawsuit against school district

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"Phyllis M." wrote: Parents of Port St. Lucie autistic boy claim abuse in lawsuit against school district By Colleen Wixon October 31, 2008 Clik on the link to see WPTV video at the end of the story. http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/oct/31/parents-port-st-lucie-autistic-boy-claim-abuse-law/?feedback=1#comments PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida — The parents of an autistic boy claim in a lawsuit filed this week against the St. Lucie County School District that their then-7-year-old was battered and abused by his behavior analyst at Oak Hammock K-8. The child’s behavior analyst,

Krukausas, also is named individually in the lawsuit. The lawsuit filed in the 19th Judicial Circuit Court stems from an incident on April 30, 2007, in which Isaiah ’s parents claim Krukausas used excessive force to bring Isaiah back to the classroom. Isaiah left the classroom to get to the front office, where he knew his mother, , was waiting for him, said. “(Isaiah) was battered, assaulted, unlawfully restrained, abused and/or subjected, to excessive force at the hands of Krukausas, by, including but not limited to, choking, crisscrossing (Isaiah’s) arms across his face, and hitting him,” the complaint says. The St. Lucie County School Board either didn’t conduct an investigation or didn’t conduct a meaningful or thorough investigation, even though employees knew of the incident, the 18-page complaint says. It is the school district’s policy not to comment on ongoing litigation, district Spokeswoman

Janice Karst said. Krukausas, who does not currently work for the school district, did not want to comment. Since the incident, Isaiah transferred to a private school and has not had any academic or behavior problems, said. But, he has nightmares. And it was difficult for him to return to a school setting because of what happened, said. The complaint says Isaiah’s injuries and damages are permanent. The lawsuit says damages exceed $15,000, not counting costs and attorneys fees. ’s attorney Adam Balkan of Boca Raton said the state “sovereign immunity” law caps recovery at $100,000. and Balkan said the lawsuit isn’t about money, but about making sure a similar incident doesn’t happen to another child. said it would be easier for her to walk away from the incident, since Isaiah is happy at his new school. “This needs to stop. It’s not just my son. If people keep

walking away, it’s never going to stop,” she said. “What was done was wrong. You can’t restrain a child.” Balkan said he also is looking at the bigger issue of restraint. Parents throughout the state have opposed their children being physically restrained by school employees. He said he hoped the lawsuit might bring more awareness to the restraint issue. A second lawsuit involving the St. Lucie County School District and an autistic child could be filed by the end of the year. Parent Barton has filed an intent to sue the district for an incident in which she says her child, Barton, was voted out of his kindergarten class. The district still is investigating that incident and the teacher, Portillo, is still on temporary reassignment. — Staff writer Tyko contributed to this report.