Voted Out Internal Investigation: Alex Gives Statement to District
The family of a boy voted out of class for bad behavoir testifies in an internal school investigation today. Alex Barton was voted out of his Port St. Lucie Morningside Elementary kindergarten class for acting out. His peers voted 14-to-2 to send him to the principal's office and told the boy why he was disruptive. Alex's mom says he acts out because he is autistic and sufferers from Asperger's Syndrome.
Barton is pushing for the veteran elementary teacher Wendy Portillo to be fired.
The hearing this morning was for Alex to testify to the district's internal affairs over Portillo's future employment with the district.
"He's got a lot of energy as you can see, but he was able to answer the questions they were asking eventually. He's not a typical child you can sit down and have a face to face conversation with," said Barton attorney Jeff Vastola who put the district on notice they intend to sue, "It gives them an opportunity to investigate the claim, and come to us with a possible resolution. If they do that then we can it's a realistic possibility we can work things out with them and we won't have to file a lawsuit."
Many residents and viewers wrote with concerns over the cost of a lawsuit funded by taxpayers.
"Nobody has mentioned money so I don't know what taxpayers would be concerned about. What they should be concerned about as Americans is civil rights violations."said mother Melissa Barton, who is filing a lawsuit against the district, "I am actually hoping there is some sort of justice for Alex for what happened to him. I will make sure this never happens to another child in the St. Lucie School District again."
Barton said she is not primarily seeking monetary damages. She wants autism awareness and training for district employees. Alex plans to return to a different elementary school this fall as a first grader.
No word on when the investigation into Portillo will wrap up, or on when the district will make its decision regarding her employment.
