"It's like this one child has more rights than the rest of the other children in the class," Bellamy said in an interview this month, shortly before she made her concerns public to the district's School Reform Commission. "Why did they have to allow these children a whole year of being beaten?"
The case illustrates a dilemma for the district: How does it ensure the rights of special-education students while protecting the rights and safety of others?
The difficulty was laid out this month in a note from the teacher to Bellamy. Kareem had been hit in the head May 3 and sent to the nurse.
"I wish there was more I could tell you about this situation," the teacher wrote. "We are doing everything we can to protect the children from injury. If something does happen, you have my assurance that we try to calm and console the child and talk to the child until he/she is no longer reacting to it. The child is also brought to the nurse just as a precaution."
The student's behavior was clearly caused by his disability - he is both autistic and mentally retarded - and the district can't discipline a student for behavior that stems from his condition, said Brenda B. Taylor, an associate superintendent who oversees special education in the district.
In response to the complaints of Bellamy and other parents, Taylor said, the district planned to move the student to a separate classroom with his own teacher until he can be transferred to a private school outside the district for more help. The child's parent has agreed to the transfer, she said.
The boy's father declined to comment.
District spokesman Fernando Gallard declined Thursday to say whether the move to a separate classroom had occurred, and said the district would release no more information on the case.
The district also would not say how many assaults on students are committed by special-education students.
