DEDHAM - Cohasset public school officials, who want to keep an eighth grader in special education against his parents' wishes, argued in Norfolk Superior Court that additional services provided to the boy this year have helped him academically.
On the first day of testimony in the trial, the school put several teachers and administrators on the stand who testified that the 13-year-old boy had frequent outbursts and caused disruptions during class at Cohasset Middle/High School.
The school, which filed suit earlier this year to keep the boy in special education, is arguing that the boy needs the one-on-one supervision and additional tutoring provided in its special education program. It also is asserting that the boy needs the help of a specialist to cope with a communication disorder.
The boy's parents, Peggy and Kevin Lewis, had asked the school to remove their son from special education in June. They have said that the school district is harassing their child by monitoring him too closely and that additional services, such as tutoring, are not helping him academically.
The case, which continues in court today, is considered unusual by education observers because disputes over special education generally occur when school districts object to parents' demands for special education. Cohasset officials are arguing that letting the boy out of special education would deny him his state right to a free and appropriate education.
School officials this fall asked a judge to issue an order to keep the boy in special education, provide him with additional services, and conduct a behavioral assessment while the case is being decided.
At one point in court yesterday, Peggy Lewis, who is arguing her son's case in court, questioned a district behaviorist about the school's monitoring of the boy's behavior during school. At the school's request, the behaviorist, Andrea Lampi, had observed the boy in two classes, Spanish and music, even though the boy does not receive special education help in those classes.
"Did that not sound like a witch hunt?" Lewis asked.
Lampi replied, "No, I'd like to know where the behaviors occur so I can observe them."
Lampi said she believed verbal outbursts in class, arguing with teachers, mocking other students, and not focusing on work is contributing to the boy's academic issues. The boy has been to the vice principal's office 11 times for discipline issues this fall, and in the spring, his MCAS scores were well below state standards, school officials testified.
During a lunch break, Peggy Lewis said, "This is our right to take our son off [the plan]. . . . I don't trust them with our child."
The Lewises plan to send the boy to a private school next year, she said.
