Foggyrock
Beta
"When autism is your mountain, you will never have to climb alone"
Feel free to browse around and get to know Foggyrock. However, you will need to login/register in order to fully participate

FoggyRock Blog
St. Lucie teacher has students vote on whether 5-year-old can stay in class Posted By: Caliboo818
Posted On: 05/24/2008
How can we help this mom, so other parents kids wont suffer the same fate.
PORT ST. LUCIE — Melissa Barton said she is considering legal action after her son's kindergarten teacher led his classmates to vote him out of class.

After each classmate was allowed to say what they didn't like about Barton's 5-year-old son, Alex, his Morningside Elementary teacher said they were going to take a vote, Barton said.

By a 14 to 2 margin, the class voted him out of the class.

Barton said her son is in the process of being diagnosed with Aspberger's, a type of high-functioning autism. Alex began the testing process in February for an official diagnosis under the suggestion of Morningside Principal Marsha Cully.

Alex has had disciplinary issues because of his disabilities, Barton said. The school and district has met with Barton and her son to create an individual education plan, she said. His teacher, Wendy Portillo, has attended these meetings, she said.

Barton said after the vote, Alex's teacher asked him how he felt.

"He said, 'I feel sad,'" she said.

Alex left the classroom and spent the rest of the day in the nurse's office, she said.

Barton said when she came to pick up her son at the school on Wednesday, he was leaving the nurse's office.

"He was shaken up," she said. Barton said the nurse told her to talk with the child's teacher, who told her what happened.

Alex hasn't been back to school since then, and Barton said he won't be returning. He starts screaming when she brings him with her to drop off his sibling at school.

Thursday night, his mother heard him saying "I'm not special."

Barton said Alex is reliving the incident.

They said he was "disgusting" and "annoying," Barton said.

"He was incredibly upset," Barton said. "The only friend he has ever made in his life was forced to do this."

The child's mother filed a complaint with the school resource officer, who investigated the matter, said Port St. Lucie spokeswoman Michelle Steele said. But the state attorney's office concluded the matter did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse, so no criminal charges will be filed, Steele said. Port St. Lucie Police is no longer investigating, but is documenting the complaint, she said.

Steele said the teacher confirmed the incident did occur.

St. Lucie School's spokeswoman Janice Karst said the district is investigating the incident, but could not make any further comment.

Vern Melvin, Department of Children and Families circuit administrator, confirmed the agency is investigating an allegation of abuse at Morningside, but said he could not elaborate.
       
tc wrote this reply on 05/24/2008
OMG wth was this teacher thinking? I would be holding my own vote for the worst teacher!!!

KevinLivsDad wrote this reply on 05/24/2008
Geez, can we at FR vote her out of teaching ;) Turn about is fair play. What can I say. Plenty of terds in the world,

iansmom wrote this reply on 05/24/2008
How can they sayit doesn't meet criteria for emtional abuse. They had every member of the class get up and say what they didn't like about this child. Did everyone get the same treatment? Just think what could have been accomplished if she had each child say one nice thing about each other or one thing I like about....

ADifferentDrummer wrote this reply on 05/24/2008
Sometimes I am just amazed by a person's ignorance! What more can I say? Deb

mercurymom wrote this reply on 05/24/2008
When did going to school beome a copy of getting voted off Survivor? The teacher needs to be fired at once. The childern need someone to come to the class and teach about excepting individuals as they are...and about compassion. This is an outrage..but honestly..not a shock at all.

shannonj wrote this reply on 05/25/2008
This incident seems to come from a place of pure ignorance on the teacher's part....I think that children with Aspergers or HF autism are often not seen in the right perspective because they "appear" so "normal" and it can seem like they are just making bad choices behaviorally...What a huge disservice to this population...many of whom grow up to have severe depression because of such treatment throughout their educational career. It breaks my heart.

hilary wrote this reply on 05/25/2008
I for one am copying this and requesting that friends and family send an informative letter and or e-mail letting this school know exactly how we feel about this so called educator's teaching standards! Anyone interested? Their address is 2300 SE Gowin Drive, Port St Lucie, FL 34952,'One whisper joined by a thousand others can become a loud voice of support'

Motherof4 wrote this reply on 05/25/2008
AAAuuugh!!! How could anyone do this to a child?

Zurama wrote this reply on 05/27/2008
I can't believe a piece of crap like her is allowed to teach. It just goes to show you that the world does not value our special kids.

wrote this reply on 06/01/2008

wrote this reply on 06/01/2008

wrote this reply on 06/01/2008

View Reply:


Our Supporters