A Florida boy whose teacher stood him up in front of his kindergarten class at the tender age of 5 and asked his fellow students to vote whether he should remain in that class has been awarded $350,000 by his school district.
The teacher is back in the classroom after being off for a year of unpaid leave.
The boy was in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome (high-functioning autism) and had been sent to the principal's office for behavioral issues.
When he returned to class, the teacher had him stand up in front of the other kids so they could each take turns telling this little kid how his behavior had personally affected them.
Then they voted him out.
Let's see. . . Humiliation, shame, encouraging gang mentality, fostering a sense of exclusivity.
I think $350K is cheap and the school district got off way too easy.
The teacher will pay none of the settlement herself because, according to one newspaper article, she was acting within the course and scope of her employment.
Really? Guess that explains why she's back in the classroom. After all, she was just doing her job.
The silver lining in this story is the fact that now someone has set a precedent for suing a school district because it failed to properly and reasonably protect the interests of a little kid with autism.
Schools everywhere oughta sit up and take notice. The next child someone shames may turn out to be much more expensive.
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