My local news reported two separate stories within Tuesday night’s broadcast:
O An eleven year-old boy named Stephan, who is autistic and non-verbal, was physically and verbally abused at school. He came home with bruises covering his legs from knee to hip.
O A teacher and an aide were arrested for duct taping an autistic student to a chair and barricading a blind student under a desk.
O Last week, I posted a diary, "Disgusting! Fight Club abuse of mentally ill by state school staff."
WTF is going on here?
This diary has gotten too big, so I’m going to post it in two parts. Tonight’s will cover the these two cases. Tomorrow’s will speak to lack of federal or state agencies that collect this type of data; an alarming number of alleged incidents of student abuse across the country that have been uncovered in a new federal investigation; and what each of us can do to help.
Disturbing stories, photographs, and testimony follow.
Stefan is an 11-year-old boy with non-verbal autism. He’s a student in Atlanta Public Schools, but because of his special needs, he went to a school run by a state agency. He’d been doing fine there, but due to renovations, Stephan was transferred to another state-run school in August 2008.
Stefan couldn’t tell anyone what was happening. His mother, Carolyn Ferrari, said "I knew something was really wrong for the first time on September 8th."
That's when she said Stefan came home with bloody scratches, bruises and ripped shorts. Marcelo and Carolyn Ferrari say they repeatedly told school officials they were concerned. His behavior over the next month deteriorated.
On the morning of October 21, she sewed a miniature microphone into Stefan’s shirt and sent him to school.
"As soon as he took his boxers off to get in the shower, I noticed it," said Stefan's father, Marcelo Ferrari. "And I was like, 'oh my God'." The outsides of Stephan’s legs were covered with bruises, from hips to knees.
Stephan’s parents listened to what the microphone had recorded with increasing horror and outrage. The adults in the room talk about the size of a boyfriend's genitals and drinking,
"The man I'm dating is intelligent. But he has a small penis. You can't throw a pebble into the ocean. Does it matter? Does size matter? Yes it does."
"Russian vodka with olive juice. That's a dirty martini?"
At one point in the day, Stefan ate some pizza out of the trash can. The adults joked about it.
"I mean he was chill. Finger lickin' good. He was chillin' with that."
But what the Ferraris heard that horrified them was this:
"You want a be-quiet hit?" (followed by the sound of a thump) "There you go. Get it now, go on."
And two minutes later, listen as an adult tells others to leave.
"Please make him be quiet. Go away. Go. Take a minute. Go. Go on."
And 15 seconds later, there were 18 seconds of thumps and the sounds of Stefan making noises.
The Ferraris called DFACS (Dept. of Family and Children Services) and Atlanta police. Both investigations went nowhere. Then they sued the Atlanta Public Schools; what was done to Stefan Ferrari and who did it would be decided in a small state administrative courtroom.
Attorneys for Atlanta Public Schools said maybe Stefan cause the injuries to himself, but the Ferraris said Stefan was never self-injurious -- and the judge agreed. The school's attorneys suggested maybe Stefan's father did it. But then the Ferrari’s attorney, John Zimring, put teacher Sherri Jones on the stand and asked:
If she was the one talking about a man's genitals? I can't recall if I said it or not.
If she was the one talking about drinking? I may have.
If she was one of the people joking about Stefan eating out of the trash? I don't recall saying that.
But after Sherri Jones is made again and again to listen to the audio, her answers changed.
And that was your voice? Yes, it was.
So you did say that? It came out of my mouth, yes.
You said that did you not? Most likely, yeah.
It was you wasn't it? Umm, that could have been what I said, yeah.
That is your voice is it not? [Zimring asked when the voice on the tape referred to striking Stefan] No, it's not.
Whose was it? I don't know.
You are under testimony to his honor! I do not know whose voice is on that tape. It is not me.
So you felt empowered to take advantage of these children with disabilities? No.
"I understand how it may come across," Jones said. "But I love what I do, and this will not stop me from continuing to do what I do for the rest of my life."
In his ruling, Judge Gatto used the word appalling in ruling a school employee caused these injuries to 11-year-old Stefan Ferrari. "Stefan was not injured at home...(He) was injured at school...His injuries were caused by multiple infliction of trauma. They were caused by his being struck by a hand or an object by an adult." But the judge did not find that Jones hit or threaten to hit Stefan; his decision stated only that an adult injured Stefan at school.
At the time of the first report, the school had not taken any disciplinary actions against Jones. After the story aired, the superintendent reported that the teacher is "no longer in the classroom." To my understanding, Jones may still be working at the school, or on paid or unpaid leave; if she’d been fired, they would have said so specifically.
Seven months after he was injured, Stefan Ferrari has made tremendous strides, and is excelling at his new private school. Failed by those who were supposed to support and protect her son, a determined mother did something no one thought could be done -- she gave him a voice.
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11Alive Mother Records Autistic Child's Alleged Abuse
Jaye Watson, the reporter who investigated the story, is continuously updating the article as new information becomes available. For updates, see below.
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Teacher, Aide Accused of Abuse
A day after a Woodstock High School teacher and an aide Laurie Peavy and Nancy Cheek were arrested for duct taping an autistic student to a chair and barricading a blind student under a desk, are out on bond, and the Cherokee County school district has placed both of them on administrative leave.
CBS Atlantais asking the Cherokee County School District if they will put in place new policies on protect students with special needs.
The district says it already has adequate policies on the books.
Another teacher and aide who took a year to come forward about what they saw could still face discipline by the district.
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Thursday's 11:00 pm news, developments on Stephan's story included:
UPDATE
In tonight’s report, by Jaye Watson
- Governer Sonny Perdue : "I, as governor, have oversight over those sorts of things. We want the right thing to happen for this young man and his family," Perdue said. "We'll get to the bottom of what happened, why it happened, who is responsible, and take appropriate action." [get the cricket food ready]
- A new, explosive recording that not only proves some Atlanta Public School employees knew about the tape months ago, but that they refused to listen to it, and threatened the parents with truancy.
- Last night, Atlanta Public School superintendent Dr. Beverly Hall claimed she knew nothing about the case until she watched it on teevee. But Stefan's mother recorded a meeting on November 12 with employees of Atlanta Public Schools and Metro North, the state agency that ran the facility that Stefan attended. Carolyn placed a tape recorder in the center of the table in that meeting.
"I'm Gail Healy," said the principal of the Marshall School, where Stefan attended, on the tape.
"I'm Rachel Barron, I'm a parent advocate," said the Ferraris' parental advocate, Rachel Barron on the tape.
"Carolyn Ferrari; Marcelo Ferrari, Stefan's dad," came the voices of Stefan's parents.
"Sherri Jones," said the voice of Stefan's teacher at Marshall, Sherri Jones.
"Gwen Stokes, Stefan's coordinator, Atlanta Public Schools," said Atlanta Public Schools coordinator Gwen Stokes.
Metro North director Susan McKenzie began the meeting by referring to the mother's hidden audio tape -- referring to it as the "alleged abuse."
The second thing I wanted to bring up was the alleged abuse that occurred, and we know that is a matter under investigation. And we want to let you know and let everyone here at the table know today that because that is a matter under investigation by the authorities, that the North Metro staff will not discuss that issue at the meeting today."
Wednesday
Deputy superintendent Kathy Augustine of Atlanta Public Schools – who refused to comment on the story for almost two months – confirmed "He was referred by the Atlanta Public Schools to have his education experience in that facility."
"Were APS officials aware of the story before it aired last night?" Watson asked Augustine.
"I saw it last night and was outraged. Dr. Hall saw it and was outraged. There are some members of Atlanta Public Schools who knew of the case, but we heard the audio on WXIA last night," said Augustine.
Yah right.
11Alive News has documentation showing Atlanta Public Schools was alerted months before the story aired. Atlanta school employees exchanged e-mails with the Ferraris on October 15, 22, and 23 – the days just before and after Stefan was injured. Also, 11Alive News has a copy of a legal complaint that was served to Atlanta Superintendent Dr. Beverly Hall on January 14. 11Alive News also has the notes from a meeting Atlanta school employees were at with the Ferraris and Metro North officials on November 12 – three weeks after Stefan was injured.
"At that meeting, it says all participants agree that placement at Metro North is appropriate," said Watson. "And then his parents were served with a paper notifying they would be charged with truancy because they did not send Stefan back to Metro North after he was injured. Do you know about that?"
"No, I have no knowledge of that," answered Augustine.