Jury to decide: Was Clovis school aide abusive toward special-needs fourth-grader?

A civil trial began this week to determine whether Clovis Unified School District should be liable in the alleged assault of a special-needs fourth-grader by an instructional aide while on a school bus in September 2013.

In Fresno County Superior Court, the parents of the special-needs child, identified in court only as Carson because he is a minor, have sued the school district and former instructional aide Spencer Perkins for assault and battery, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Two days after the Sept. 17, 2013, incident, Perkins resigned from the school district.

Court records say Perkins, now 28, was charged in criminal court in April 2014 with misdemeanor child abuse in connection with the bus incident. Contending he was innocent, Perkins sued Clovis Unified in March 2015 for defamation, wrongful termination, retaliation and fraud. A month later, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office dismissed the misdemeanor charge against Perkins because of insufficient evidence, court records say.

Carson’s parents are seeking in excess of $1 million in damages from the school district and Perkins, court documents say. Lawyers for the school district and Perkins have denied the allegations. Perkins contends in his lawsuit that Carson attacked him first and that he had to restrain the 10-year-old for his own safety and that of the other special-needs children on the bus.

In opening statements of the trial on Monday, both sides agreed that Carson was born in December 2002 to a woman who abused alcohol and drugs while he was still in her womb. Because his mother was incarcerated, Carson spent two years in foster homes where he was neglected and mistreated before he was adopted.

Both sides also say that Carson had behavior issues at school. The boy also was known to spit, bite and stab people with pencils, said Fresno attorney Benjamin Ratliff, who represents Clovis Unified.

What is in dispute is whether the bus incident caused Carson to suffer a mild traumatic brain injury and recurring headaches.

Ratliff said experts will testify that Carson already had permanent brain damage from his biological mother abusing alcohol, cocaine and marijuana. Before the bus incident, Carson was developmentally delayed because he has been diagnosed with several disorders, including reactive attachment disorder, oppositional disorder, and post traumatic stress disorder, Ratliff said.

The goal of Clovis Unified and Carson’s adoptive parents was to mainstream him with non-disabled children, Ratliff said. But because of his behavior, Carson spent much of his time in a restrictive environment for his safety and that of the other children, he said.

San Diego attorneys Carlie Bouslaugh and Allison Worden, who represent Carson and his parents, said Carson also had trust issues with adults, suffered from failure to thrive, and had trouble talking. But once he was adopted, Carson’s parents, who also have adopted three other children, made sure he received proper services at school.

In opening statements, Bouslaugh likened Carson’s disorders to a child standing at the edge of a cliff. For most children, the bus incident would cause them to stumble and fall, but they would get right back up again, she told the jury. For Carson, the bus incident pushed him off the cliff.

At the time of the incident, Carson attended Reagan Elementary School and had an Individualized Education Plan because of several diagnosed disorders, including obsessive compulsion disorder, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, court records say.

Perkins, who was hired as an instructional aide in August 2012, was assigned to be Carson’s one-on-one aide. As part of his duties, Perkins rode the school bus with Carson from his home to school and from school to Carson’s home.

A bus surveillance video camera captured the incident between Perkins and Carson, who were sitting together behind the bus driver.

According to Bouslaugh, Perkins started the fight by questioning Carson about an alleged incident at school. Because Carson struggles with speech, he ignored Perkins and stared out the bus window, Bouslaugh told the jury. Perkins, however, kept badgering Carson, causing Carson to get frustrated. Perkins also became agitated because Carson continued to look out the window.

At one point, Bouslaugh said the video shows Perkins putting his face within inches of Carson’s head and whispering to him. Carson then attempts to nudge Perkins away from him by using his head.

In court documents, however, Perkins contends Carson head-butted him.

Perkins then pushed Carson against the bus window, Bouslaugh said. He then grabbed Carson by the back of his head and forced it between the boy’s knees, the lawyer said. Crying and screaming, Carson told Perkins “it hurts and stop,” Bouslaugh told the jury. But Perkins didn’t stop. At one point, Perkins used his left forearm to pin Carson’s head against the window. Carson’s head remained pinned to the window until the bus got to Carson’s home, Bouslaugh said.

At the bus stop, Carson’s father helped his sobbing son off the bus and learned what Perkins had done. The father quickly called the school.

Bouslaugh said Clovis Unified employees refused to tell Carson’s father what had happened. In fact, when the parents wanted to see the video of the incident, Clovis Unified declined, the lawyer said. Instead, Clovis Unified gave their version of what happened, Bouslaugh said.

Meantime, Perkins told Carson’s teacher about the bus incident. The teacher notified the principal, Janet Samuelian, who began to investigate. During a meeting, Samuelian asked Perkins to demonstrate how he restrained Carson. “Samuelian was shocked at the amount of force being used,” Bouslaugh told the jury.

On Sept. 19, 2013, Samuelian viewed the video, determined that Perkins had used excessive force, and called police. Perkins was then asked to resign. If not, he would be terminated.

Bouslaugh said Clovis Unified knew Perkins was not properly trained because three days before the bus incident, Carson’s teacher had removed Perkins from his one-on-one duties with Carson while he was at school. But Perkins was still allowed to ride the bus with Carson.

And Carson’s parents were never told that Perkins was not Carson’s aide at school, Bouslaugh said.

Bouslaugh said their experts contend that Carson suffered a mild traumatic brain injury and recurring headaches from the alleged assault. He also suffered post traumatic stress disorder because every time he has a headache, he thinks of the bus incident, she said.

Carson needs long-term medical care and a residential treatment program with individualized therapy, Bouslaugh told the jury.

But Perkins said in court papers filed in his own lawsuit against the district that he rode with Carson on the bus for two days following the incident and nothing unusual happened. He also said he had “received no training or instruction on how to restrain Carson or any special needs student while on a school bus.”

In his lawsuit, Perkins contends he became the “scapegoat” after the school district received complaints from Carson’s parents. His trial against Clovis Unified is scheduled to begin in February 2018.

This story was originally published February 28, 2017 at 3:43 PM with the headline "Jury to decide: Was Clovis school aide abusive toward special-needs fourth-grader?."