Drop felony charges against 5th grade autistic boy!
- by: Jennifer Hughes
- recipient: Pam Siebenmorgan, Dr. Benny Gooden, School Board Office, Mayor Ray Baker
Zakhqurey Price, an 11-year-old autistic boy in the 5th grade, has been charged with multiple counts of felonious assault against two school district employees. According to Zakhquery's grandmother, "On August 18th, my 11 year old grandson started the school year, and we requested an evaluation be done as he was returning from another district that recommended he have an aide with him at all times. We tried to get an IEP together before school started in July and were refused and told to wait until school started." She has been denied access to her grandson's records, including assessments and evaluations, being told it was against state law. Zakh was denied a full-time aide despite the insistence of his family and professional recommendations. No positive behavioral plans was put in place to assist him.
On October 30, Zakh had an Autism-related outburst, leading to restraints and a call to the police. Two staff members (the teacher and principal) suffered very minor injuries and filed felony charges. 11-year-old Zakh was handcuffed and booked with juvenile offenders. He has an IQ of 68, as well as diagnoses of autism, ADHD, OCD, and ODD His family has also been refused his disciplinary records from this incident. Zakh has STILL not been allowed back to school and is being homeschooled by the district--but only for FOUR HOURS a week!
Please sign below to encourage the felony charges to be dropped against Zakhqurey Price.
We the undersigned asks that you drop the charges against Zakhqurey Price, work with his grandmother to put in place an IEP that will fulfill Zakh's right for a Free and Appropriate Public Education in the Least Restrictive Environment, and improve training for school personnel to prevent future such incidents and to ensure that students on the autism spectrum as well as with other disabilities are included, supported and educated in Fort Smith Public Schools. Zakh is an 11-year-old boy with multiple disabilities including autism, intellectual impairment, ODD, OCD, and ADHD. He was not provided with the appropriate supports he needed to succeed in school and a group of adults used inappropriate restraint methods in response to destruction of property, which would be illegal under the recently introduced federal legislation regarding restraint and seclusion in schools. This caused fear and panic that resulted in a disabled child kicking and shoving. How often is kicking and shoving grounds for pressing felony charges against an 11-year-old? Such an incident is already hurting the reputation of Fort Smith Public Schools and the problem will undoubtedly get worse if common sense is not applied. It is extremely important that Zakh is returned to a school setting
with appropriate IEP support and not institutionalized, which could end up setting him back too far to recover from.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.
