Russellville Father Claims Elementary Staff Abused Mentally-Disabled Son
By: Marci Manley, KARK 4 News
Updated: November 9, 2012
Ben Butler's a single parent of a son whose challenges go beyond sounding out stories.
"My son suffers from mental health issues," he said. "He's considered a disabled student."
Eight-year-old Bradley was diagnosed with anxiety disorder, ADHD, and depression since he was six.
"He sees a therapist twice a month and a psychiatrist once a month at UAMS," Butler said. "He went through an intensive review at their psychiatric unit when he first started developing issues."
Butler said one of the biggest challenges in dealing with his son's disorders, though, came at Russellville's Sequoyah Elementary School.
"They were made aware of Bradley's triggers. They were made aware of all of his conditions," Butler said.
Last April, Bradley wasn't given his prescribed medication as scheduled, and he became irritated. That prompted the aide to try and restrain him.
"He put his hands on Bradley, which anyone who knows a child has sensory issues knows not to do, so Bradley had a breakdown," Butler said. "The aide's idea of restraining him was to grab him, push him down on his back on the concrete and lift his feet straight up in the air. Bradley only sees things in black and white, once he was being held down like that -- he thought he was going to die."
Butler said the struggle, which lasted roughly 10 minutes according to witnesses, resulted in scratches, cuts and bruises all over Bradley's body. Butler documented them in pictures, but when he spoke with the school principal, he said he hit a wall.
"I wanted to know if she planned on reporting this to the Child Abuse Hotline as required because she's a mandated reporter," Butler said. "She advised me she was not going to report it and did not feel it was child abuse. It was a slap in the face to just be dismissed by administrators."
Butler filed a police report, and officers contacted the Department of Human Services. An investigation was conducted, and after four months the case worker found the claims to be unsubstantiated.
"I don't believe it was investigated properly," Butler said. "The investigator told me herself that they were understaffed, she was working on this by herself, and that she was already backlogged. An investigation that they are required to complete in 30 days took her 4 months to finish."
The Russellville School District declined to comment to KARK about the incident.
Superintendent Randall Williams, however, issued a written statement that reads, " The incident in question was reported in April of 2012. It was fully investigated by the Arkansas Department of Human Services and the claims made by the parent were found to be not supported by the evidence and thus ruled unsubstantiated by DHS. This finding was consistent with the district's own investigation."
Butler has since filed a complaint with the Department of Education, requesting an investigation be conducted into whether the principal and superintendent failed to follow the law on reporting the incident as mandated reporters.
The Department of Education would neither confirm or deny that an investigation was ongoing, but Butler said he has been notified that as of Wednesday an investigation is getting underway.
"I want this to never happen to any other child again," Butler said.
Butler said his actions aren't about rehashing the past, but turning the page for the future.
"I want them [the Russellville School District] to start treating children that have mental disorders as children with mental disorders or problem children," he said. "They don't see this as a disability. They see it as a behavior issue that needs to be fixed. That is simply unfair to every child that suffers from mental illness."
"My son suffers from mental health issues," he said. "He's considered a disabled student."
Eight-year-old Bradley was diagnosed with anxiety disorder, ADHD, and depression since he was six.
"He sees a therapist twice a month and a psychiatrist once a month at UAMS," Butler said. "He went through an intensive review at their psychiatric unit when he first started developing issues."
Butler said one of the biggest challenges in dealing with his son's disorders, though, came at Russellville's Sequoyah Elementary School.
"They were made aware of Bradley's triggers. They were made aware of all of his conditions," Butler said.
Last April, Bradley wasn't given his prescribed medication as scheduled, and he became irritated. That prompted the aide to try and restrain him.
"He put his hands on Bradley, which anyone who knows a child has sensory issues knows not to do, so Bradley had a breakdown," Butler said. "The aide's idea of restraining him was to grab him, push him down on his back on the concrete and lift his feet straight up in the air. Bradley only sees things in black and white, once he was being held down like that -- he thought he was going to die."
Butler said the struggle, which lasted roughly 10 minutes according to witnesses, resulted in scratches, cuts and bruises all over Bradley's body. Butler documented them in pictures, but when he spoke with the school principal, he said he hit a wall.
"I wanted to know if she planned on reporting this to the Child Abuse Hotline as required because she's a mandated reporter," Butler said. "She advised me she was not going to report it and did not feel it was child abuse. It was a slap in the face to just be dismissed by administrators."
Butler filed a police report, and officers contacted the Department of Human Services. An investigation was conducted, and after four months the case worker found the claims to be unsubstantiated.
"I don't believe it was investigated properly," Butler said. "The investigator told me herself that they were understaffed, she was working on this by herself, and that she was already backlogged. An investigation that they are required to complete in 30 days took her 4 months to finish."
The Russellville School District declined to comment to KARK about the incident.
Superintendent Randall Williams, however, issued a written statement that reads, " The incident in question was reported in April of 2012. It was fully investigated by the Arkansas Department of Human Services and the claims made by the parent were found to be not supported by the evidence and thus ruled unsubstantiated by DHS. This finding was consistent with the district's own investigation."
Butler has since filed a complaint with the Department of Education, requesting an investigation be conducted into whether the principal and superintendent failed to follow the law on reporting the incident as mandated reporters.
The Department of Education would neither confirm or deny that an investigation was ongoing, but Butler said he has been notified that as of Wednesday an investigation is getting underway.
"I want this to never happen to any other child again," Butler said.
Butler said his actions aren't about rehashing the past, but turning the page for the future.
"I want them [the Russellville School District] to start treating children that have mental disorders as children with mental disorders or problem children," he said. "They don't see this as a disability. They see it as a behavior issue that needs to be fixed. That is simply unfair to every child that suffers from mental illness."
Comments
This is just another one of Sequoyah's little "mishaps". My son attended this same school when he was in 2nd grade and he was in their ALE program as well. This is supposed to be a program for children with special needs but, it seems like it's more of a glorified daycare in my opinion. Russellville School District, for the most part, is horrible when it comes to handling children with special needs. My son spent over a year in a mental facility and was FORCED into the ALE program upon release. It was only supposed to be a 3 week transitional period so that he could go back to his main school, which we loved. My son was required to hand over his SHOES upon entrance to the class. He wasn't allowed to go outside, ever, for recess and he wasn't allowed to eat lunch in the lunchroom. He was required to stay in his little class all day and not do anything but draw or paint. They didn't even teach him!!!! He learned NOTHING the time he spent there. And this is just the tip of what went on. I won't go into details about the restraints and padded room! Yeah, you read that right...a PADDED ROOM in an elementary school! Anyway, from my own experiences, I totally believe that this child was mistreated. Sequoyah's ALE program should be stripped from them and placed in the care of another school...namely, Crawford, which has a loving, caring staff that makes sure that their students are taken care of and receive the education they deserve.
Melanie K.
November 10, 2012 at 5:30 pm
If the school employees had given him is medication as was required, then they wouldn't have had problems and then made mistakes when handling him or have to go through appropriate child abuse protocols. The school district is causing problems for themselves because they obviously do not follow the child's IEP or 504 plan by not giving the prescribed and scheduled medication. Seems like the family could sue over not following the prescribed needs of a special education student. It is abuse not give a mentally ill child his medicine that allows him to function properly.
amber a.
November 10, 2012 at 5:03 pm
thought it necessary*
Brenna M.
November 10, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Interestingly enough, the only BLACK coach in the Russellville School District was reported for tossing an empty water bottle over his shoulder. Alene Bynum was compelled to report this to the Child Abuse Hotline and it was rejected - they would not even take it as a complaint; yet no one felt thought it necessary to report scrapes and bruises due to improper restraint? That entire incident was swept under the rug? I smell a [censored] rat and I know I'm not alone in this sentiment!
Brenna M.
November 10, 2012 at 4:15 pm
Mentally challenged students can become physically violent. This is just a fact. Teachers that work with these students have been trained to properly restrain them if need be. The teacher can't just let these children (who are sometimes very strong) to beat the heck out of them. Sometimes they have to be restrained to keep them from hurting themselves or others.
Laurie L.
November 10, 2012 at 11:44 am
