Cullman City Schools has been charged with criminal harassment against a student diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. This may violate federal law.
Earlier this month, defendant’s mother, Melanie Roberts, filed a subpoena saying her son, a senior at Cullman High School, is being charged with criminal harassment over comments he made in October about his school’s operations. received. days in prison.
Schools typically work with law enforcement to address potential safety and security issues, but it’s not clear how common it is to initiate criminal charges against students in Alabama.Center Schools across the country hand over tens of thousands of students to law enforcement each year, with black students and students with disabilities “bearing the brunt,” according to For Public Integrity.
At a hearing Thursday morning at the Cullman County Courthouse, Roberts and her family awaited the judge in disbelief.
“I couldn’t sleep at all last night,” Roberts said. “Instead of being in school, we are here.”
Principal Alison Tagle is listed as a plaintiff in the subpoena. She did not attend the hearing.
“My son has a right to face the accuser,” said Roberts, keeping his eye on the door throughout the hearing.
According to Roberts, high school officials failed to provide his son with the behavioral support services he needed, forced him to study online, overreacted to inappropriate comments at school, and put him in an unusual situation where the principal filed criminal charges. I’ve arrived.
According to Roberts, the school initially expelled the student from campus in October after he said he “just wanted to kill the administration.” Criminal charges were filed three months later.
Roberts said her son didn’t mean to threaten.
“This year a new administration was put in place and I got calls every other day saying my son said something inappropriate. I asked him if he didn’t want to go to school,’ Roberts said.
In a statement to AL.com, Kalkhov, Kalman Municipal School Superintendent, said:
“Federal law prevents us from talking about specific students. State law prohibits us from talking about specific juvenile cases.
“Having asked for a statement without mentioning the students, I would like to point out that Cullman Municipal School strives to provide a safe school environment free of violence. We follow Alabama law and policy, which requires us to report violent behavior involving the threat of killing an employee.To the Cullman Police Department and Campus SRO Daily Support I am grateful.”
Roberts said his son’s individualized education plan requires the school to provide a behavioral support counselor to address his son’s comments. But she says the school didn’t.
“They were supposed to provide counseling starting in grade 9, but they said they could never keep a contract with a counselor, so he didn’t get the counseling he needed and he was supposed to. There are a lot of other services that have been available…to get what he didn’t get,” Roberts said.
Schools are required by federal law to provide the services listed in a student’s IEP. Failing that, you will have to provide compensation services. This is an educational service necessary to make up for lost skills or learning if the services listed in the IEP are not provided.
Failure to do so would not only violate federal law, but it would also violate a student’s right to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE).
The school transitioned the defendant to virtual learning in October, which Roberts said was a difficult learning method for his son.
“He’s always on track to graduate this year, but now he’s falling behind in virtual school.”
According to Roberts, the city of Cullman had a counselor evaluate the defendant in November, and the counselor determined that he did not pose a threat and that his outburst was due to his disability.
The student has not yet been cleared to return to campus, and according to Roberts, he has not been formally suspended or expelled. This is called informal exclusion.
In July, the U.S. Department of Education released new guidance on disciplining students with disabilities. , we must first determine whether the student’s behavior was caused by the disability. Her 100% of the national student population experiences her 23% dropout, according to federal agency data.
Research shows that not only are students with disabilities more likely to face school disciplinary action, they are also disproportionately subject to juvenile detention.
A 2014 study found that “young offenders with learning disabilities are more likely than young offenders without disabilities to be suspended from school, be convicted of It is known that there is a high frequency
The guidance states that if a student’s behavior is determined to be due to a disability by the student’s 504 team, which includes parents, principals, classroom teachers, and other school officials such as nurses and counselors, the school may take disciplinary action. He said he could not proceed with the proceedings. .
No meetings have been held with the 504 team, Roberts said.
Informal exclusion from school is still subject to the same process.
The Department of Education’s guidance states that “schools may violate Section 504’s FAPE requirements and procedural safeguards because they do not maintain proper records regarding informal exclusions.”
When asked what disciplinary protocols were employed and whether behavioral support was provided given that students with disabilities were disproportionately disciplined, Kalhoff replied: rice field.
“We do not believe and strongly disagree with your statement that ‘students with disabilities are often disproportionately trained compared to their peers’. We deplore the prejudice against students demonstrated by such statements.”
There were no responses to follow-up questions to determine whether school districts are adhering to the U.S. Department of Education’s new guidance on disciplinary protocols.
After the hearing, the judge asked for another mental health assessment of the defendant this month before further hearings are scheduled.
If you have a student with a disability in your Alabama school or have experience with the special education system and would like to discuss your experience, please contact reporter Savannah stryens-fernandes@al.com.
