Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

School Forced Bullied Special-Needs Student to Clean Bathroom, Parents Say

By Eddie Small | January 22, 2015 7:47am
 Jeremiah Rosario, 9, was forced to clean up a filthy bathroom at his old school, his family said.
Jeremiah Rosario
View Full Caption

CONCOURSE — A Bronx assistant principal forced a bullied fourth-grader with special needs to clean up a feces and urine-smeared bathroom with toilet paper and his bare hands, according to a claim the Department of Education is investigating.

Jeremiah Rosario, 9, asked his teacher at the Sheridan Academy for Young Leaders for permission to use the bathroom on Nov. 3, but he found the stalls too dirty, his mother Shirley Rosario said.

His teacher told him to use a different bathroom, but Assistant Principal Jose Gonzalez stopped him, accused him of wasting time and forced him to go clean up the bathroom.

"There was no soap to wash hands. There was no gloves or detergent given to him to clean up the feces and the urine," the boy's mother said.

"The child literally had to use toilet paper to clean as best as possible with his own bare hands the feces and the urine of other students."

Jeremiah said he did not talk back when Gonzalez told him to do this, but he was still very upset about having to clean up the restroom.

"It wasn't my job to do that, so I felt disgusted," he said.

Jeremiah had been required to be escorted to the bathroom by another student after he was caught climbing the stalls in late October. After the Nov. 3 incident, the school said he now had to be accompanied by an adult.

He and his twin brother, Isaiah Rosario, who have both been diagnosed with ADHD and are on individualized education programs, had already been getting bullied at the school by a group of third- and fourth-graders who called themselves "The Squad," and the restroom incident was the last straw, the boys' parents said.

They pulled Jeremiah and Isaiah out of Sheridan on Nov. 26 and are now homeschooling their sons while looking for schools that are better suited for the boys' educational needs.

"I'm glad I'm not at the school," said Isaiah, "because I don't get bullied anymore."

Their father, Julio Rosario, said he tried to discuss the issues his sons were facing with school officials but was dissatisfied with the results.

After saying that he would hold the school liable and return with a lawyer if anything happened to his children, Sheridan Principal Lisette Febus wrote him a letter on Oct. 1 stating that his conversations had resulted in "safety concerns" at the school and establishing new rules for his visits.

The DOE's Office of Special Investigations will interview Jeremiah on Jan. 23 about the restroom incident, and the family is currently in the midst of an impartial hearing with the DOE about whether the Sheridan Academy properly implemented the Individualized Education Plan and responded to bullying problems for Isaiah, according to his parents.

DOE spokesman Harry Hartfield confirmed that the city was looking into the Rosarios' treatment.

“Nothing is more important than keeping our students safe and in supportive learning environments," he said in an email. "We take these disturbing allegations seriously, and we are investigating them.”

Febus did not respond to a request for comment.

Julio Rosario maintained that students should not be focused on cleaning bathrooms while they are at school.

"They've got janitors to do that," he said. "Kids don't go to school to clean a public building."