TOLEDO, Ohio — Two families filed a federal lawsuit against Toledo Public Schools and district administrators Tuesday, alleging their children with disabilities were abused and assaulted at school.
The lawsuits reference two alleged incidents in 2023: one at Spring Elementary and another at Robinson Elementary. The lawsuits also claim that TPS does not meet statewide standards for including and accommodating students with disabilities in education.
According to the lawsuit regarding Spring Elementary, special education teacher Garrett Pelz allegedly threw a 9-year-old student across the classroom after the student did not obey his instructions. In the document, the student's family alleged the student kicked a desk and sat at a desk he was not supposed to sit at; Pelz allegedly then "became enraged", picked the student up and threw him across the room. Pelz then allegedly told the student, who had spit out blood, to sit down and act as if nothing had happened.
Assault and safe school violations filed against Pelz in response to the 2023 incident have been dismissed, according to Toledo Municipal Court records.
In the second lawsuit, a classroom paraprofessional at Robinson Elementary, Stanley Hill, was accused of knocking a student's head into a desk, which knocked the student's teeth out and caused bleeding. Records kept at the school claimed the student, who had been placed on an Individualized Education Plan, had refused to follow directions and Hill had responded by slamming the student's head into the desk.
According to the suit, Hill had a history of yelling at the students in his class and allegedly used physical force to get students to follow directions.
Both the Spring Elementary and the Robinson Elementary suits were filed against TPS, its administrators and several other educators including Hill and Pelz, on the following counts:
- Violations of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
- Excessive Force in Violation of the 4th Amendment
- Violations to Due Process Rights
- Failure to Comply with the Civil Rights Act of 1964
The suits also both allege a violation of the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection clause and demand a trial by jury on all counts.
TPS in a statement said it "cannot comment at this time on the lawsuits that were filed today due to pending litigation."
According to the lawsuit, Toledo Public Schools is one of 11 Ohio school districts the Ohio Department of Education has identified as failing to include students with disabilities in the regular education classroom to the largest extent possible.
"As of the 2021-2022 school year TPS only included students with disabilities in the regular education classroom for 80% of the school day or more at the rate of 21%. The state goal is 65%," the lawsuit states.
This is not the first time Toledo Public Schools has been sued for alleged abuse against a student with disabilities. In 2023, a Toledo family sued TPS, the TPS Board of Education and an intervention specialist for allegations of abuse against a student in 2020 and 2021.
According to the lawsuit, a TPS intervention specialist allegedly verbally and physically abused an 11-year-old student with autism at Elmhurst Elementary School. The lawsuit also claimed TPS officials were aware of the abuse for at least six months without reporting it to the student's parents or authorities.
The 2023 lawsuit has since been terminated, according to court documents.
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