FL: Parents of Port St. Lucie autistic boy claim abuse in lawsuit against school district

By Colleen Wixon (Contact)
Originally published 02:51 p.m., October 31, 2008
Updated 06:24 p.m., October 31, 2008

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/oct/31/parents-port-st-lucie-autistic-boy-claim-abuse-law/?feedback=1#comments

PORT ST. LUCIE — The parents of an autistic boy claim in a lawsuit filed this week against the St. Lucie County School District that their then-7-year-old was battered and abused by his behavior analyst at Oak Hammock K-8.

The child’s behavior analyst, Frank Krukauskas, also is named individually in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit filed in the 19th Judicial Circuit Court stems from an incident on April 30, 2007, in which Isaiah Moore’s parents claim Krukauskas used excessive force to bring Isaiah back to the classroom. Isaiah left the classroom to get to the front office, where he knew his mother, Anna Moore, was waiting for him, Moore said.

“(Isaiah) was battered, assaulted, unlawfully restrained, abused and/or subjected, to excessive force at the hands of Krukauskas, by, including but not limited to, choking, crisscrossing (Isaiah’s) arms across his face, and hitting him,” the complaint says.

The St. Lucie County School Board either didn’t conduct an investigation or didn’t conduct a meaningful or thorough investigation, even though employees knew of the incident, the 18-page complaint says.

It is the school district’s policy not to comment on ongoing litigation, district Spokeswoman Janice Karst said.

Krukauskas, who does not currently work for the school district, did not want to comment.

Since the incident, Isaiah transferred to a private school and has not had any academic or behavior problems, Moore said.

But, he has nightmares. And it was difficult for him to return to a school setting because of what happened, Moore said.

The complaint says Isaiah’s injuries and damages are permanent.

The lawsuit says damages exceed $15,000, not counting costs and attorneys fees. Moore’s attorney Adam Balkan of Boca Raton said the state “sovereign immunity” law caps recovery at $100,000. Moore and Balkan said the lawsuit isn’t about money, but about making sure a similar incident doesn’t happen to another child.

Moore said it would be easier for her to walk away from the incident, since Isaiah is happy at his new school.

“This needs to stop. It’s not just my son. If people keep walking away, it’s never going to stop,” she said. “What was done was wrong. You can’t restrain a child.”

Balkan said he also is looking at the bigger issue of restraint. Parents throughout the state have opposed their children being physically restrained by school employees. He said he hoped the lawsuit might bring more awareness to the restraint issue.

A second lawsuit involving the St. Lucie County School District and an autistic child could be filed by the end of the year.

Parent Melissa Barton has filed an intent to sue the district for an incident in which she says her child, Alex Barton, was voted out of his kindergarten class. The district still is investigating that incident and the teacher, Wendy Portillo, is still on temporary reassignment.

Staff writer Kelly Tyko contributed to this report.