Kindergartener Voted Out By Students

[Refugee 7]

Alex Barton, 5, a special needs student, was voted out of his Florida kindergarten class.

A Port St. Lucie, Fla., mother is outraged and considering legal action after her son's kindergarten teacher led his classmates to vote him out of class.

Melissa Barton says Morningside Elementary teacher Wendy Portillo had her son's classmates say what they didn't like about 5-year-old Alex. She says the teacher then had the students vote, and voted Alex, who is being evaluated for Asperger's syndrome -- an autism spectrum disorder -- out of the class by a 14-2 margin.

Barton and her son, Alex, talked exclusively with Harry Smith live from West Palm Beach, Fla.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/27/earlyshow/main4130288.shtml

Click on the link above to watch the interview.

Barton filed a complaint with Morningside's school resource officer.

St. Lucie School spokeswoman Janice Karst said the district is investigating the incident, but could not make any further comment. The state attorney's office concluded the matter did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse, so no criminal charges will be filed.

Teacher Wendy Portillo was advised by the school board not to speak to the press so she declined our interview offer.

[nurktwin 2,143]

this shit is amazing and getting more common ever day. if you can have children, take care of them. don't blame your city, or government to bail you out. and don't even bring up the other countries we pay for. this shit is out of hand. your tax dollars go for ppl that don't work and more than you do. if you think i'm full of shit. wait till you get your $600 rebate check!!!!!! it's not gonna happen.

[Katie 0]

This just makes me sick! :confused: :085:

I'll never understand how some people get their teaching credential.

[Doxiejoe 1]

How sad....She sounds like a mean, nasty lady!

[PumpkinBumpkin 1]

That is just awful! Who would do that?!

[Echosoftom 3]

OMG! That poor little guy. This woman has no business being around kids. If I was that mother I'd sue that idiot ass teacher and the school district. This just infuriates me! :085: :mad:

[Nel 71]

Perhaps this piss-poor teacher should be voted out of the school district....permanently. It sounds to me like she got her questionable "teaching" skills from her obsession with Survivor. Honestly, I think that show has had a negative impact on the way a lot of people behave in the workplace and in schools.

[Pettyjunkie 0]

This is horrible. I know it is difficult dealing with someone that has asperger's and how distracting it can sometimes be, but that's no reason to vote him out of class. Can teachers even do that?

[KansasPettyFan 1]

This is outrageous. This will affect that poor boy for the rest of his life. I agree, vote her ass out permanently. I hope she is fired.

[Beamish 0]

if you think i'm full of shit. wait till you get your $600 rebate check!!!!!! it's not gonna happen.

I got mine several weeks ago, but 15,000 of them were sent to the wrong accounts, and I just read that if you used Turbo Tax to file, yours will probably come by snail mail anyway.

I work with autistic kids 6 days a week, and I've found that the other students are usually helpful and friendly. However, my Asperger's client is so disruptive (even with an aide) that his classmates are constantly distracted, so I can understand if the teacher was overwhelmed, but she should have taken that up with administration/the parents rather than using those kids as her pawns and treating him like that. How can he learn social skills and empathy from a teacher who doesn't have either ? :mad:

Edited May 28, 2008 by Beamish
Forgot emphatic frownie face

[surfnburn 5]

^yeah...She might have used the class vote to deflect the fact that she could not cope with the student.

I don't know what I can add. Outrageous is the word. I really hope this doesn't have a long term emotional impact on the child. If he has behavior issues, isn't there a procedure a kid goes through to get into individualized programs? Why didn't she do it that way? I'm trying to understand this in terms of the national educational law of "no child left behind." What does she think that means? How is the school handling these issues? Sounds really questionable. If the parents don't win their suit, the school might still be in trouble.

[Refugee 7]

What about the other children in the class? Has anyone seen on TV news or read if the parents of the other kids are just as pissed off? Or...do they agree with the teacher?

[agirl 0]

This just made me sick. I saw this on TV last night and I feel so sorry for that poor little guy. I hope that teacher is fired!! And....

The state attorney's office concluded the matter did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse, so no criminal charges will be filed.

I hope he changes his mind now that this has gone national.

[emmie 2]

God bless his poor little heart. That is just so nasty and mean. Poor little guy. I just want to hug him.

[Mudcrutch 285]

How I read this was that they kid was being disruptive (as he usually is) and the teacher let the kids decide to let him stay in the room or go down to the office.

I think the article is a bit sensationalized.

[Refugee 7]

^ It might be a bit sensationalized, but the fact remains of what this teacher did to this child. She put him in front of classmates who each told him what they didn't like about him and then voted to boot him out of class. There is NO excuse for that sort of behavior, especially from a teacher!

This is school...not Survivor.

[Echosoftom 3]

^ Thank you! Well said Ref. I get angry every time I think if this story.

[wild1forever 152]

^^Well said, Ref. Regardless of the circumstances, somebody needed to be the adult in this situation, but the teacher acted like a complete ass.

If he has behavior issues, isn't there a procedure a kid goes through to get into individualized programs? Why didn't she do it that way?

Ames, my experience is that kids with issues like his are "mainstreamed" as much as possible during the early years. My younger son had a classmate with similar issues who spent most of the day in special ed. When he was in the classroom, he had an adult "helper" with him to help him cope.

By time they reach third or fourth grade, though, the class usually moves too fast for kids with these issues, so they are in special ed the entire school day.

[Refugee 7]

From the Chicago Tribune -

A Florida kindergarten teacher who had students vote last week whether a 5-year-old should be allowed to stay in class has been removed from her teaching position pending an investigation.

Here's what Collen Wixon of the Ft. Pierce Tribune has reported:

"(The boy's mother Melissa) Barton and Port St. Lucie Police Department officials said teacher Wendy Portillo made (the boy) stand in front of the room while his classmates told him what bothered them about him. Because the class was studying tallies and vote-taking, Portillo then led a class vote as to whether (the boy)should be allowed to stay in the class.

(The boy) was voted out, by a 14 to 2 margin. He spent the rest of the day in the nurse's office and was upset when Barton picked him up after school.

Barton said Tuesday morning (her son) was officially diagnosed with an autism-spectrum disorder and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD."

Public shame and humiliation can have lifelong consequences. And from what we know so far, this case illustrates an often-ignored problem faced by children on the autism spectrum: bullying.

By law, Illinois school districts must have a policy that protects children from bullying which includes preventing intimidation, student victimization, sexual harassment and sexual violence. If a child is harassed because of a disability, it's a violation of several acts, including the Americans With Disabilities Act.

But many parents of autistic children say these policies aren't enforced. "I am afraid that if these kids aren't protected, that they will affected for life, not that they don't already have issues to deal with," said Mary Kay Betz, whose son has been diagnosed with Asperger's and has been a target of bullying.

And few people probably dreamed the abuser could be a teacher, rather than a student.

Still, before calling for the Florida teacher's firing, let's wait to hear her side of the story. So far, she hasn't been able to give it. And the Port St. Lucie Police Department and state attorney's office have both declined to press charges of child abuse.

Anthony Westbury, a columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast newspapers in Florida, knows Portillo and defends her saying, "there's obviously another side to this story and maybe one day we'll hear it. In the meantime, I'm suspending judgment. I think after teaching our kids for 12 years in St. Lucie County — nine of them at Morningside to some pretty lofty levels — we owe her that."

[Katie 0]

I just feel more and more for this kid the more I read about him. The classroom isn't supposed to turn into a recreation of "Lord of the Flies" nor should it become a breeding ground for hate and public ridicule.

This teacher's actions still astound me. I think the bigger message might be that teachers of inclusive classrooms, on the most part, do not get adequate training in how to identify, help, and educate students with learning/behavioral disabilities. That, or this lady really just sniffed too much glue in her day.

On a side note - How darn cute is this kid? Look at that precious face!:056:

Edited May 28, 2008 by Katie
spelling errors..grrr

[agirl 0]

I'm sorry, but her side of the story has obviously already been told to the proper authorities. There is NO excuse for what she did.

[emmie 2]

Poor little sod, every time I look at his little face my heart breaks for him.

[Beamish 0]

"I'm trying to understand this in terms of the national educational law of "no child left behind."

No Child Left Behind and Least Restrictive Environment are two different things. Parents can ask at the IEP for a less restrictive environment and accommodations, but if kids cannot keep up academically with their peers at grade-level, there is usually an emergency IEP to get those kids out- otherwise, their low scores are counted in with their peers' and the school is penalized. NCLB was implemented to raise national test scores, not to address children with special needs. :085:

[Miami Steve 48]

What's the rest of the story here? I noticed that in the interview the mom said her son is "in the process of being diagnosed wth Asperger's". It is now late May. My guess is there has been much discussion about the boy's behavior between the teacher, principal and parents since the beginning of the school year without any resolution, leading to the teacher doing this incredibly stupid thing. I wouldn't be surprised if other adults, even the parents, failed to act in the best interests of the child here. When the mom started talking about Al-Qaeda I kinda lost confidence that she represented the voice of reason in this case.

[Beamish 0]

^ I agree, Steve- most kids are diagnosed with autism/Asperger's well before kindergarden, so you have to wonder why he wasn't. I also wonder if she's like many of the other moms I see who give their "special" (aka spoiled) kids the impression that the entire world will accommodate them, rather than teaching their kids the manners needed to work out effective compromises.