An article in today's Daily News draws attention to a troubling but common practice in charter schools. Children, some as young as 5 years old, are being removed from schools—and thus denied their right to education— under so called "psychiatric suspensions." LSNYC-Bronx's Nelson Mar represents the families of the two kindergarteners featured in the piece.
In 5-year-old Brianna Pena’s
case, relatives say the Bronx girl was probably just anxious because
she had just been transferred to the Harriet Tubman Charter School. She
didn’t know anyone there and her surroundings were new.
“Nobody cares about me!” the slim girl hollered repeatedly, according
to a letter sent from the school to the parents requesting
“psychological clearance” before allowing her to return.
The letter says the girl was “yelling and throwing chairs” during the October incident.
The Daily News reviewed a video provided by the school to the parents
which only shows the terrified girl trying to hide herself from adults
behind a tiny table and chairs.
The medical staff at Lincoln Hospital found there was nothing wrong
with the girl and within days she was allowed back inside the school.
Soon after, the girl was left unsupervised and found wandering outside the building.
“ ‘They don’t like me in school,’ ” her mother, Milagros Lopez, 29, recalled her daughter saying. “It broke my heart for her to say that.”
Despite the family having to get a clearance letter from the hospital,
school officials deny that her removal was a suspension. Citing student
confidentiality, they wouldn't be more specific.
Generally, schools are required to evaluate students with special needs
or behavior problems. Then the schools are supposed to address the
students’ needs through counseling or other means.
Immediate removal from a school is extreme, advocates say.
“The concern here is that schools may be pathologizing typical
childhood behavior simply because a kindergartner is having trouble
separating from their parents for the first time,” said Mar, of Legal
Services NYC — Bronx.
