MADISON - A former Albany middle school student was bullied weekly for 18 months by five boys and physically injured 26 times while school officials did little or nothing to halt the harassment, according to a lawsuit filed this week in federal court.
The complaint alleged:
The boy's mother sued the Albany school district on behalf of her son, now 16, after two school principals and the superintendent were "recklessly indifferent" to the harassment meted out to the boy, who suffers from autism.
The boy's disabilities have delayed his cognitive development by about three to four years.
He was under the care of a psychotherapist and functioning at the third- or fourth-grade level when he entered the school as a seventh-grader in 2012.
He began in a special education program and while he attended classes with other non-disabled students, various accommodations were made to his coursework to allow him to be mainstreamed.
Other students in the boy's classes immediately became aware of his disabilities and alterations were made in his Individualized Educational Plan to his coursework to accommodate them.
The harassment began on Oct. 10, 2012, when the boy was in the gym during recess. A group of five students in his class threw a basketball at the boy's face which broke his glasses and cut his nose.
These five boys laughed and mocked the boy's disabilities and called him derogatory names.
The mother immediately reported the incident to Tracy Davis, school principal, who promised to investigate but later told the boy's mother that no one else had seen the incident and no action would be taken.
Three days later, the same group of bullies again threw a basketball at the boy while at recess in the gym.
The mother again reported the incident and individuals involved to Davis who said she thought the boy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and no action was taken against the boys.
Two weeks later when the mother told Davis that the bullies were making fun of her son's disabilities in class, Davis said she spoke to the boy about how to handle the harassment but took no action against the bullies.
At the mother's request, Davis removed the boy from gym on Nov. 1, 2012 during recess due to the bullying he experienced.
After the boy suffered another facial cut at recess, Davis said she would assign an employee to check in with him daily to determine if he had been harassed.
During October and November 2012, the bullies and others repeatedly harassed the boy, mocking him and not allowing him to sit down to eat. Davis later told the mother that none of the teachers in the lunchroom collaborated the boy's story and no action would be taken.
The boy began skipping lunch to avoid harassment. Within a month he lost 6 pounds and began taking anti-depressant medication to cope with the continued bullying. Davis had staff observe the boy during lunch but that stopped after a few weeks.
In mid-December 2012, the mother met with nine staff members to update her son's IEP. Although she voiced her concerns that the ongoing bullying was interfering with her son's education, his IEP was not changed to address the impact of bullying on the boy's grades.
The mother told District Administrator Stephen Guenther in mid-December 2012, that one boy pushed her son into a locker and called him a name. Guenther said that could not have happened because no teacher stationed in the hallways saw it.
In January 2013, Guenther denied the mother's request to have an adult accompany her son in hallways between classes, saying there was not enough staff to do so.
The mother told school board members Fairy Elmer and Kim Blumer about her son's bullying but they also took no action to end it.
When the boy was pushed down a flight of stairs between classes, Davis suspended one of the alleged bullies for a day.
The mother also reported the incident to police but the suit did not specify what response they took.
In April 2013, the mother met with Community Education Services Agency, which oversees school districts in the area and presented a summary of bullying activities taken against her son. She also had a letter from two other parents who complained that the school district did not address bullying that happened to their children.
While the mother asked that the school district acknowledge there was a bullying problem at the school, the only action taken was to have a staff member ride the elevator with the boy between classes. However, this also ended within weeks as the boy said the slow elevator made him late for classes and staff did not always accompany him.
A Green County Department of Social Services representative joined the boy's IEP team in May 2013 to address the bullying and injuries the boy was receiving.
The harassed resumed when school opened in the fall of 2013 as the boy missed three days of school with a bruised coccyx after one of the alleged bullies pushed him from behind.
Principal Douglas Kryder reviewed surveillance tape but did not see the incident the boy complained about. After a second pushing incident, the mother told Kryder about the bullying her son received the prior school year and the injuries he suffered.
Kryder said he would try to keep an eye on the boy but in February 2014, one of the alleged bullies bruised the boy by hitting him on the leg with a hockey stick. Kryder told the mother he did not believe the incident took place and she took her son out of school.
"What kind of education can a child get being harassed and bullied for a year and one half by the same five boys on a weekly basis," the mother wrote the school district.
The mother was homeschooled the rest of the year and began the 2014-15 school year in the Brodhead school district where he is not bullied, his grades have improved and he has stopped using anti-depressant medications.
"I'm not aware of what Brodhead is doing differently (than Albany) but he's not being bullied and his grades are better," Kurt Kobelt, the attorney for the mother and her son, said Thursday.
Guenther was unavailable for comment Thursday. District Principal Connie Gregerson said she had not seen the suit but "I believe our schools are very safe places."
The suit alleged that the boy was harassed based on his disabilities and the harassment was so pervasive that it created an abusive educational environment. Also, the district knew about the harassment and bullying and violated his rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act through their deliberate indifference to the repeated bullying incidents throughout his attendance at the middle school.
The suit seeks unspecified damages for physical trauma, humiliation, stigma, and severe mental and emotional anguish.
The complaint alleged:
The boy's mother sued the Albany school district on behalf of her son, now 16, after two school principals and the superintendent were "recklessly indifferent" to the harassment meted out to the boy, who suffers from autism.
The boy's disabilities have delayed his cognitive development by about three to four years.
He was under the care of a psychotherapist and functioning at the third- or fourth-grade level when he entered the school as a seventh-grader in 2012.
He began in a special education program and while he attended classes with other non-disabled students, various accommodations were made to his coursework to allow him to be mainstreamed.
Other students in the boy's classes immediately became aware of his disabilities and alterations were made in his Individualized Educational Plan to his coursework to accommodate them.
The harassment began on Oct. 10, 2012, when the boy was in the gym during recess. A group of five students in his class threw a basketball at the boy's face which broke his glasses and cut his nose.
These five boys laughed and mocked the boy's disabilities and called him derogatory names.
The mother immediately reported the incident to Tracy Davis, school principal, who promised to investigate but later told the boy's mother that no one else had seen the incident and no action would be taken.
Three days later, the same group of bullies again threw a basketball at the boy while at recess in the gym.
The mother again reported the incident and individuals involved to Davis who said she thought the boy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and no action was taken against the boys.
Two weeks later when the mother told Davis that the bullies were making fun of her son's disabilities in class, Davis said she spoke to the boy about how to handle the harassment but took no action against the bullies.
At the mother's request, Davis removed the boy from gym on Nov. 1, 2012 during recess due to the bullying he experienced.
After the boy suffered another facial cut at recess, Davis said she would assign an employee to check in with him daily to determine if he had been harassed.
During October and November 2012, the bullies and others repeatedly harassed the boy, mocking him and not allowing him to sit down to eat. Davis later told the mother that none of the teachers in the lunchroom collaborated the boy's story and no action would be taken.
The boy began skipping lunch to avoid harassment. Within a month he lost 6 pounds and began taking anti-depressant medication to cope with the continued bullying. Davis had staff observe the boy during lunch but that stopped after a few weeks.
In mid-December 2012, the mother met with nine staff members to update her son's IEP. Although she voiced her concerns that the ongoing bullying was interfering with her son's education, his IEP was not changed to address the impact of bullying on the boy's grades.
The mother told District Administrator Stephen Guenther in mid-December 2012, that one boy pushed her son into a locker and called him a name. Guenther said that could not have happened because no teacher stationed in the hallways saw it.
In January 2013, Guenther denied the mother's request to have an adult accompany her son in hallways between classes, saying there was not enough staff to do so.
The mother told school board members Fairy Elmer and Kim Blumer about her son's bullying but they also took no action to end it.
When the boy was pushed down a flight of stairs between classes, Davis suspended one of the alleged bullies for a day.
The mother also reported the incident to police but the suit did not specify what response they took.
In April 2013, the mother met with Community Education Services Agency, which oversees school districts in the area and presented a summary of bullying activities taken against her son. She also had a letter from two other parents who complained that the school district did not address bullying that happened to their children.
While the mother asked that the school district acknowledge there was a bullying problem at the school, the only action taken was to have a staff member ride the elevator with the boy between classes. However, this also ended within weeks as the boy said the slow elevator made him late for classes and staff did not always accompany him.
A Green County Department of Social Services representative joined the boy's IEP team in May 2013 to address the bullying and injuries the boy was receiving.
The harassed resumed when school opened in the fall of 2013 as the boy missed three days of school with a bruised coccyx after one of the alleged bullies pushed him from behind.
Principal Douglas Kryder reviewed surveillance tape but did not see the incident the boy complained about. After a second pushing incident, the mother told Kryder about the bullying her son received the prior school year and the injuries he suffered.
Kryder said he would try to keep an eye on the boy but in February 2014, one of the alleged bullies bruised the boy by hitting him on the leg with a hockey stick. Kryder told the mother he did not believe the incident took place and she took her son out of school.
"What kind of education can a child get being harassed and bullied for a year and one half by the same five boys on a weekly basis," the mother wrote the school district.
The mother was homeschooled the rest of the year and began the 2014-15 school year in the Brodhead school district where he is not bullied, his grades have improved and he has stopped using anti-depressant medications.
"I'm not aware of what Brodhead is doing differently (than Albany) but he's not being bullied and his grades are better," Kurt Kobelt, the attorney for the mother and her son, said Thursday.
Guenther was unavailable for comment Thursday. District Principal Connie Gregerson said she had not seen the suit but "I believe our schools are very safe places."
The suit alleged that the boy was harassed based on his disabilities and the harassment was so pervasive that it created an abusive educational environment. Also, the district knew about the harassment and bullying and violated his rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act through their deliberate indifference to the repeated bullying incidents throughout his attendance at the middle school.
The suit seeks unspecified damages for physical trauma, humiliation, stigma, and severe mental and emotional anguish.