Abusive and Negligent Principal Facing Criminal Charges

Education News

The parent of the student, who has proven to be an extremely strong, dedicated, relentless, and passionate advocate for her son; willing to take on the entire school district in order to ensure a safe and quality education for her son, stated that, “Mr. Raymond does not care about my son, and has never cared about him.  He has never contributed anything to my son’s education, and has only threatened, intimidated, and harassed me because I will not allow him to violate my son’s civil rights.  The only administrator that has been fair, worked with us, and done what was best for my son is Assistant Principal Sharron Archer, but because she is African-American, Raymond will not let me work with her. He told me that I could only speak with Assistant Principal Anne Greene, who is a first-year administrator or himself, the two white administrators that have mistreated my son. No other person in the district has even asked my son how he feels about what is happening to him.  He does not feel safe at the school.  I do not feel safe at the school, or why would I request a police escort?  Enough is enough.  Now that my son is a possible witness against Raymond and the others, I know that I am not sending him back there.   They could do anything to him so that he would not be able to testify against them.  Moody Middle School is not a safe place, even if the Superintendent Russo’s children go there. He better watch Mr. Raymond with his children too.”

Appeals Court Backs Parents in Special Education Placement - The School Law Blog - Education Week

Appeals Court Backs Parents in Special Education Placement - The School Law Blog - Education Week

The school district appealed to the 10th Circuit court, where it was joined in a friend-of-the-court brief by the National School Boards Association and the state school boards' groups for five of the six states that make up the 10th Circuit: Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Utah. (Wyoming is the sixth state in the circuit.)

"School districts should not be responsible for unilateral residential placements made for medical purposes," the NSBA brief says. "Such responsibility is not only beyond the range of their competence and funding but also exceeds the requirements of the IDEA."

Meanwhile, the parents drew the support of the Obama administration, with the U.S. Department of Justice filing a friend-of-the-court brief on their side that was also signed by a lawyer for the U.S. Department of Education.

"This court should join the majority of circuit courts of appeals and adopt a test that a school district is liable under the IDEA for the cost of a residential placement, less the cost of medical treatment that can be provided only by a licensed physician, if the child's mental-health needs are so significantly intertwined with his or her educational needs that educational services cannot be provided without some mental-health treatment," the federal brief says.