The Douglas County School District will provide advanced disability rights training for police officers assigned to district schools as part of a settlement reached after an 11-year-old boy with autism was handcuffed for s
cratching another student, the ACLU of Colorado announced Wednesday.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fourth Amendment against Douglas County School District, former Sheriff Tony Spurlock and several school resource officers (SROs) in 2021, alleging a “pattern or practice” of officers mishandling situations involving students with disabilities.
Law enforcement on campus have similar responsibilities as regular police officers in that they have the ability to make arrests and respond to calls for service.
As part of the settlement, district officials have agreed to revise their policies and undergo training created by the disability rights community. The police officers will also be required to review and comply with student behavioral plans. Reporting requirements will also ensure the officers comply with de-escalation techniques consistent with each student’s behavioral plan, according to an ACLU press release.
“Student conflict should never be handled like a criminal matter,” Deborah Richardson, executive director of the ACLU of Colorado, said in a statement. “With these revised policies, we can ensure that all students, especially those who need specific accommodations, feel safe at school.”
Erica Tinsley, an ACLU of Colorado spokesperson, said the group is not releasing the settlement as part of the agreement with the school district.
Paula Hans, a district spokesperson, said the district has not changed its policies but will alter its agreement with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department.
“It is rare for an SRO to handcuff and arrest a student at school,” Hans said in an email to The Denver Gazette.
Douglas County School Board President Mike Peterson declined to comment, saying he had not been briefed on the settlement.
District offices were closed on Wednesday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Referred to as A.V. in the lawsuit, the boy at the center of the settlement was in an affective needs class at Sagewood Middle School at the time of the incident.
According to the lawsuit, on Aug. 29, 2019, a classmate of A.V. wrote on him with a marker. A.V. — who is sensitive to touch — responded by scratching the student with a pencil. At the direction of a classroom aide, A.V. left to work with a school psychologist to calm down. It was at this point that SROs stepped in.
Body camera footage provided by the ACLU shows two deputies talking to A.V., who stands silently refusing to answer questions.
“Alright, I’ve asked you. Now, I’m telling you,” an officer tells A.V. before grabbing the boy by an arm and forcibly pulling him.
A.V. screams and cries, repeatedly asking officers to “stop” and saying, “You’re hurting me.”
“You’re just making this worse,” an officer tells A.V. “Just relax.”
Deputies then handcuff the boy behind his back, at one point grabbing the child by the back of his neck to prevent him from moving.
“They dragged the handcuffed child through the hallways of his school, placed him in a patrol car, and left him there for hours, while, still handcuffed, he banged his head repeatedly against the plexiglass of the patrol car and cried in pain,” the complaint said.
Officers transported A.V. to a juvenile detention center, where he was held in custody, without receiving medical attention, until his parents were able to post a $25,000 bond, according to the lawsuit.
“Student safety is extremely important,” Tim Macdonald, ACLU of Colorado’s legal director, said in a statement. “Students deserve to feel safe in a community where they are supposed to be learning.”
According to reporting by Chalkbeat, Douglas County School District restrained and secluded more students in the 2018-19 school year than any other district in the state. District data shows more than 70% of DCSD’s students restrained from 2016 to 2019 had some form of learning needs.