Alright – so, Bloomington school district in Minnesota suspended my son for having a behavior that was triggered by his special education teacher Kelly Morris who disrupted his routine. Let’s describe autism – it is a behavior disorder and children with autism are routine oriented. Yet, his teacher disrupts then suspends him for wanting to continue and finish his routine.
I want to write this post from an autism mother’s perspective and how I felt when I got an email from my son’s principal Jaysen Anderson telling me that my son was suspended for having a behavior. At first, I thought I was in a nightmare. Then I forwarded the email to someone else to read it to me because I simply could not believe it. I knew that black boys were disproportionately suspended by Bloomington school district, but I thought my son who has nonverbal autism was at-least excluded from that statistic.
I trusted this school district. I trusted his special education teacher and I trusted the superintendent who is a person of color, but they shattered my trust in one email. They saw my son as a black teenager, not as a child with disability. They did not see a child with autism who depended on them to be taught and to be cared for. They have broken my heart and made what every black mother is afraid of a reality. Ever since that day on May 3rd, 2018 at 5:18pm – I have been trying to figure out how the heck something like this could happen to my son and so many other minority children especially black boys. I have been gathering data from school districts which makes me even more sad. At first, I thought if the school and district leaders reflected the students they serve then this horrible statistic would not be. Then when I think of Bloomington’s superintendent Les Fujitake and Jefferson High school principal Jaysen Anderson who are both minority – I thought just because they look like us does not mean they are fair or that our children are treated equally. I mean think of Supreme court justice Thomas Clarence – he is a minority yet he votes against anything fair and equal that enhances minorities.
How can a principal who is supposed to be a leader and lead students into the future suspend a nonverbal autistic child who does not understand the concept of suspension. What educational value did this have? The IDEA law has one size fits all for suspending students with disabilities. The state law resembles the federal law and has one size fits all. How can this be? how can we have one size fits all for all disabilities or even just autism which is a spectrum and affects individuals so differently. This I am determined to change so that no more child with autism goes through what my son did. If you are a parent whose child goes to Bloomington school district, I urge you to contact The Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) and request the report that explains how Bloomington school district disproportionately suspends students of color and students with disabilities. Sadly, even after that report this district still suspended a black child with a disability for having a behavior that was due to his disability which the teacher triggered. Think about that and pull your child out of this district unless you want him/her to be part of a horrible statistic. My son communicates using an app in his iPad but his teacher Ms. Kelly Morris took his device away. In other words, the school disrupts his routine, takes away his voice then suspends him for wanting to complete his routine. Imagine being a parent and hearing this. How would you feel?
Can diversifying the Bloomington School Board help?
Heck yes. I have advocated for Somali autism students and other minorities in Mpls school board and while MPS Schools don’t always have good record in terms of achievement gap and suspension, at the very minimum their board was very receptive and understanding of the needs of our children. The reason for this is Siad and other minorities are board members and they fully understand that they can be voted out if they don’t help minority parents and families. With Bloomington School District Board, there is no person of color, zero, zilch, zap. There are three white men and four white women one of which has a son with autism. In fact, their board chair and I served in an autism task force together but we often disagreed because Ms. Steigauf did not want to add low income autism children getting behavior therapy into the autism legislative task force. And, I of course wanted to add help and therapy for low income children who are disproportionately minorities.
In summary, we need to have a diverse school board in Bloomington to reflect the students they serve. I am hoping someone runs against some of the current board members in the next election. I think we can do it and diversify this school board which is sorely needed. If you can believe it the Bloomington City Council has six white men and ONE black man. What the heck? Nothing about us without us. We have got to be at the table or we are on that table as my son was in Bloomington school district. Vote for diversity and equality.
Above words do not reflect any committee, agency or candidate.
Idil – Autism Mom