School throws child out for complaining too much about bullies

By "throws child out", I don't mean "expelled"; I meant they literally forced him out of the building - without a jacket, in 40-degree weather - and then, get this, reported him truant.

Quote:

Yvonne Pinkston said her son was in 4th grade at Fiske Elementary last year, after moving to Chicago from Indiana, and was bullied from the start, first by students and then by staff after he complained. Her attorney, Dan Herbert, released surveillance video from the school, which shows a security officer dragging the boy into the principal’s office, and then forcing him out of the building as the school counselor and principal appear to supervise. Herbert said it all happened after the boy complained about being bullied. “They throw this kid out on the street in Englewood, and they leave him there, and to make matters worse, they called the police and they reported that there’s a missing child. They report that some kid ran out of the school,” Herbert said. The video showed the boy wearing only a polo shirt and khakis, while the security guard, a school counselor, and another adult who were there when the boy allegedly was kicked out were wearing sweaters and jackets inside. The boy’s family said it was only 40 degrees outside at the time. The boy’s grandmother, Hope Pinkston, who said she works as a security officer for CPS, said the school’s counselor and principal called her the day of the incident, and claimed her grandson had run out of the school. She claimed, when she asked if any adult was with her grandson after he left the building, the principal told her she directed her staff “not to chase after him,” even though he was only 9 years old, and alone on the streets of Englewood. Herbert said school officials also lied to the boy’s parents, claiming he had been fighting, scratching, and kicking other kids. “It didn’t happen,” he said. Pinkston has filed a federal lawsuit against the Chicago Board of Education, the principal, the school counselor, and the security guard, accusing them of excessive force, unreasonable seizure, intentional infliction of emotional distress, creating a hostile educational environment, and more. Sources said the district was first made aware of the allegations on Tuesday, and the security guard has since been removed from his position, and CPS is investigating the principal’s actions, as well as why district leadership was not previously notified of the incident.

Before too many people jump on the "we only have one side of the story" bandwagon, I would assert that the other side of the story doesn't actually matter in this case. Forcing a child out of the building without a coat in low-temperature is nothing less than reckless endangerment; and certainly isn't anything close to an appropriate, valid, or acceptable punishment for anything the child may have done.

Further, the school are the proven liars in this case; they told both the police and the boy's grandmother that the boy had "run out of the building". There happens to be surveillance video of his removal from the building; it plainly shows him being escorted to the doors and obviously being compelled to leave the building by adults who then stand there The-Tribe-Has-Spoken style, making it clear that staying inside is not an option, and he (reluctantly, it honestly looks like to me) follows their instructions. He did not "run out of the building" in defiance of the rules, nor was he being dragged out in the midst of an out-of-control tantrum. This makes everything the school has said and will say about this case suspect, including that he was removed for "fighting, scratching, and kicking other kids", which I simply cannot believe is accurate as a result of their already-established lies.

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