Down syndrome student bullied at Kansas school

An employee of a rural Kansas school district repeatedly shoved a teenager with Down syndrome into a closet, hit the boy and once photographed him locked in a cage used to store athletic equipment, a lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit filed Friday in federal court said the paraprofessional assigned to the 15-year-old sent the photo to Kaw Valley district staff, comparing the teenager to an animal and “highlighting his gross, degrading and discriminatory behavior.”

The teenager’s parents claimed in the lawsuit that the paraprofessional did not have a key to the cage and had to enlist the help of other district employees to open the door and free their son, who is identified in the complaint only by his initials. The suit, which includes the photo, said it was unclear how long the teenager was locked in the cage.

The lawsuit names the paraprofessional, other special education staff and the district, which enrolls about 1,100 and is based in St. Marys, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Topeka.

No attorney is listed for the district in online court records, and phone and email messages left with district staff were not immediately returned.

Costul said the teenager’s placement in the locker and cage resulted from “no behavior or for minor behaviors” that resulted from his disability.

The paraprofessional is also accused in the lawsuit of yelling derogatory words within inches of the teenager’s face daily and pulling and yanking him by the collar of his shirt around the school at least once a week.

At least once, the assistant hit the teenager in the neck and face, the suit states. The teenager, who speaks in short, abbreviated sentences, described the incident using the words “hit”, “closet” and the assistant’s first name.

Costul said the paraprofessional made the teenager stay in dirty clothes for long periods of time and denied him food during lunch.

The lawsuit says some staff members raised their concerns with the special education teacher who supervised the paraprofessional, as well as the district’s director of special education. But the lawsuit said none of them intervened, even though there have been other complaints about the paraprofessional’s treatment of students with disabilities in the past.

The lawsuit said the defendants described their treatment of the teenager as “tough love” and “how you gotta do it.”

The lawsuit said the principal instructed subordinates not to report their concerns to the state child welfare agency. However, when the parents raised their concerns, a district employee reported them to the agency, citing abuse and neglect concerns, the lawsuit states.

No criminal charges are listed in online court records for the paraprofessional or any of the employees named in the lawsuit. And no disciplinary action is listed for the staff in a state education department database.

The suit said the teenager’s behavior deteriorated. The cost said he refuses to leave his house out of fear, stops using his words and hits his head more and more.

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Kansas K-12 Lawsuits