Problems continue for special needs boy

After it appeared some sort of agreement had been reached between the Lester B. Pearson School Board and the parents of a special needs child who had been thrown out of Beechwood Elementary and been refused a demand to transfer to another school, problems started again last Thursday when young David Schulman and his mother were momentarily detained by local police following an incident.

"David was confused and mad," said his father Stanley Schulman, explaining his 12-year-old adopted son had been banned from a field trip that day because he did not have a signed parental consent form and had had to stay at school.

Schulman ruled out the possibility that David had simply forgotten to give him a consent form. "Even if he did forget, (the school) could have just called me," he said.

Diagnosed with a rare condition called Toxin-Chernobyl nuclear disaster radiation, condition two, David exhibits symptoms similar to autism, according to Schulman, and needs to follow a special program which prohibits him from, for example, taking French classes.

Yet, that day, his aide put him in not one, but two French classes, as David's entire class was away. By the time it was 2:30 p.m. and David was due to hop on the bus and go home, he was so angry he would not do it, Schulman said.

"You don't single out the child in front of his peers. That creates an instant outburst," Schulman said, citing the opinion of a U.S.A.-based medical specialist, Dr. Ronald Federici, who helped design David's program for him in the first place.

David's mother was called to pick him up, and, in his state of anger and confusion, he "pushed her on the neck," according to Schulman. This, he said, caused the principal to panic and call both for police and an ambulance.

Schulman said his wife and son were being held in her car by police when he arrived, and she had administered David his medication by that time.

"(Principal) Cotler said that my wife was being beaten up," Schulman told The Chronicle.

Schulman said he tried to explain to police and Urgence-Santé that his son was on a special program, and even called Federici to confirm this. However, police first refused to listen to him, and Urgence-Santé questioned Federici's credibility, asking to know how they could be sure this was not just some friend of Schulman's.

Meanwhile, the school board has banned David from attending Beechwood or any Pearson schools, according to Schulman.

The latter had asked for David to be transferred either to Westpark or Thorndale elementary schools, but Pearson had refused, despite numerous signed letters of recommendation by medical professionals.

The board's chairperson, Marcus Tabachnick, said the board only has David's best interest at heart and hopes to solve David's predicament "in the next few moths one way or another."

Tabachnick denied police presence was unnecessary on the scene last Thursday, adding the principal who made the judgment call was well-experienced. "This is an extreme measure that is taken very rarely," he said.

However, Schulman said he would be reporting the officers' behaviour to the police ethics committee, as well as go to the SQ, as his wife insisted she was "treated like garbage."

Schulman said the officers in question were from Montreal police Station 3 in Pierrefonds. Community relations officer Dan Maheu said he could not comment on the situation, as it was between parents and the school.