From NY Daily News:

The furious dad said his son may have been acting out at Public School 59 on Dec. 2, but school administrators should not have called the cops on the boy.

A Manhattan father is suing the city Education Department for $1 million after his misbehaving son, who has special needs, was removed from a kindergarten class by cops.

Matthew Daniels said the experience has been so unsettling that he has kept his son, Bryan, 6, home from school since.

The furious dad said his son may have been acting out at Public School 59 on Dec. 2, but school administrators should not have called the cops on the boy.

“He’s not safe in that school,” said Daniels, 42, who said his son was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Cornell following a tantrum at the E. 63rd St. school.

A spokeswoman for the city Law Department said it has not yet received Daniels’ complaint.

Daniels filed a notice of claim in Manhattan on Jan. 10.

Read more from New York Daily News…

Gerstman Schwartz LLP is representing the family:

NEW YORK CITY SCHOOL ABUSES FAMILY OF CHILD WITH AUTISM

PS 59 HARASSES AND BULLIES PARENTS – PUSHES TO THROW CHILD OUT OF SCHOOL

The parents of a 5 year old autistic child who attends PS 59 – The Beekman Hill International School – are outraged as they are harassed and bullied to move their child to a school far from home, because the school lacks qualified professionals trained in autism related interventions and therapies.

PS 59 school officials have engaged in an ongoing and aggressive campaign to harass and bully this child and his parents, which has included numerous unnecessary suspensions ranging up to 3 days for a kindergartner. In its outrageous attempt to drive the family from the school, the school has even gone as far as threatening the parents with arrest when the school tried to forcibly take their child to a hospital. School officials continue to ignore the needs of this autistic child – instead, they continually provoke the child, segregate him from his classmates, and engage in tactics to harass and bully the parents.

Attorney for the family, Brad Gerstman, states, “This pattern of conduct is one of the worst I have ever seen in my time working with special needs families. It is an absolute disgrace for a school to engage in such appalling conduct in order to force a family out of the school district.” As a result of this situation, Mr. Gerstman also stated that, “all legal options would be contemplated, including a lawsuit against the Board of Education.”

This year the CDC reported that 1 in 50 school age children are affected by autism, with a national rate of prevalence of 1 in 88, making autism more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined. Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that typically last throughout a person’s lifetime. It is the fastest growing developmental disability in the world. Symptoms range from mild to severe and vary with each child. It occurs in all racial, ethnic and social groups. There is no medical detection or cure for autism.

 Press Contact: Heshani Wijemanne (516) 880-8170