First Grade child with autism and ADHD - behaviors written up as sexual harassment -

[Linette]

I am really needing help navigating this situation and seeing if anyone else has had this come up or can offer advice. This is a little boy with autism and ADHD in first grade who has become very interested in private parts, understanding how breast feeding works and all the other things little boys become curious about. The parents are doing a great job of teaching him through books and discussions. He takes things very literally - for example in the recent Crayon Book,  peach crayon would not  leave the box because her wrapping came off - "How would YOU like to go to school naked?" And so this student asks the teachers about getting naked. He is suspended and then written up with the incident being sexual harassment. He also has many sensory seeking behaviors and he loves the feel of the picture on his shirt. Many times he will lift it up to touch his cheek. This was labeled as flashing and written up as sexual harassment. WHAT???

When we wrote to the principal, she said this is per Title IX and it is how it has to be coded. Of course the parents do not want their child labeled as such and developmentally this coding is inappropriate for this little guy who is trying to make sense of it all. There have been a number of other incidents as well. 

Thank you in advance for your feedback. 

 

Quote

 

at is inapproprate and appropraite and 

[Jenna]

You mentioned that the parents are doing a great job of teaching the child through books/social stories/discussions. What is the school doing for the child other than giving him write-ups and suspending him? Has the school done an FBA? What support does the child have in school to prevent this from happening? Has an MDR hearing been requested for each suspension? (See https://adayinourshoes.com/manifestation-determination-hearing/ for more.) 

[JSD24]

Under FERPA, parents are allowed to add info to clarify what is in their child's records.  IMO, this is the route to take so that whomever might look at his records in the future is aware that he likes to run the fuzzy appliques on his shirt against his check and he was caught doing that when he wasn't wearing an undershirt and it was labeled as flashing and sexual harassment.  If he has an IEP, this should go into the parent concerns part of the IEP as a proactive way to prevent his childhood curiosity from being labeled as something that is sexually deviant.  If the child is gifted, this might play into what's going on.  Does the state he's in mandated gifted education?

[Linette]

The school has been working on other behaviors, but not specifically this one. I am wondering exactly what Title IX says regarding younger children. I cannot find that information. Can anyone point me to any resources on the web? I have been looking, but can only find information regarding older kids. I want to be educated around what the law specifically states. 

Thank you!!

[Linette]

Thank you, J!

Yes, he does have an annual  IEP and his meeting is coming up soon. It's funny we just had a reevaluation meeting before his annual meeting, as he switched schools, but not districts, the meeting went on for almost 2 hours and there was never a mention of these incidences and behaviors. There is no mandate for gifted education that I am aware of, but I will double check on that. I would like it to be expunged all together and not allow this to happen to other little ones. 

 

[Jenna]

With an upcoming annual meeting, the parents can reiterate concerns in this area in their letter of parent concerns/ parent input statement.

Was an MDR hearing requested re: the suspensions? If so, was one held?

As for requesting records be amended under FERPA, see p.2 of https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/sites/default/files/resource_document/file/A parent guide to ferpa_508.pdf. The parents can request the records be amended, and have a hearing on it, but that still may not change the school's decision on the record. The parent can request that their letter disputing the school's record be placed in the student's file.

The U.S. Dept of Ed has a Q&A "on the Title IX Regulations on Sexual Harassment"  that includes elementary schools. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/202107-qa-titleix.pdf (see "Example Policy 5: For students with disabilities" on p. 54). Has the district provided you with a copy of its Title IX policy?

[Linette]

Thank you so much Jenna for providing me with some resources. He does not have enough suspensions yet for an MDR.

They will definitely put those in his records and on the parent concerns. 

I will look at the U.S. Dept. of Ed. They have not provided us with a copy. The teacher stated in her letter that they are limited as to how to code the behavior and that they are required to report them as such because they meet the definition of sexual harassment as defined by Title IX. She also states she had to involve legal and human resources as well. Do we reach out to those departments for further clarification? 

 

Thank you again so very much for your guidance, I will read through the material. 

[Jenna]

The school may say he doesn't have enough suspensions for an MDR hearing, but that's not true. You can request an MDR hearing after EACH suspension.  See Lisa's post at https://adayinourshoes.com/manifestation-determination-hearing/ and read through the IDEA discipline info she has linked. We don't want children on the School to Prison pipeline.

Also see Lisa's post on getting an FBA at https://adayinourshoes.com/behavior-iep-special-education/ and common challenges with BIPs (https://adayinourshoes.com/school-fba-behavior-plan/) so you can help the team avoid those pitfalls. 

You can ask to review the child's records, including all staff notes, emails, etc. if you think  the information you may gather could change your advocacy strategy. If you want to consider doing a records request, review https://adayinourshoes.com/ferpa-regulations/ first and note that schools may consider it a hostile move.