A 9-year-old Chicago boy is forced out of school and onto the street by school staff. He had complained of being bullied in his classroom, according to multiple reports.
The family of the nine-year-old had sued the Fiske Elementary School for kicking her son out of the school in 40-degree temperatures in Englewood during March, according to CBS News. ABC News reported that the family had already requested a jury trial for this incident.
Yvonne Pinkston, the mother of the nine-year-old, said in the lawsuit said that her son was thrown out of the school without a coat on, wearing only a short-sleeved shirt and a pair of khaki pants, according to ABC news. The nine-year-old had moved to Chicago from Indiana. He had been severely bullied by his classmates in his new school, CBS News reported. When the nine-year-old tried to bring his bullying up to any authoritative figure in his school, including the school principal, he was ignored, and his mother would be called to come and pick him up the news outlet reported.
Pinkston’s attorney, Dan Herbert, released the school’s surveillance video showing a school security officer dragging the nine-year-old into the principal’s office, and then back out a little bit later and appearing to usher him outside the building. Also, the school counselor and the principal did nothing to stop the incident, Herbert said, according to CBS News.
Pinkston said that her son told her that after he was kicked out of the school, he tried to getting back into the school by trying every door available, but they were all locked.
“They throw this kid out on the street in Englewood, and they leave him there and try to make matters worse, they called the police, and they reported that there’s a missing child. They report that some kid ran out of the school,” Herbert said, according to CBS News.
Billy Pinkston, the grandfather, who also happens to be a Chicago Police Officer, was shocked, and said, “it was 40 degrees that day; 40 degrees outside, and no coat. You know, who does that to a child?”
The 9-year-old’s grandmother, Hope Pinkston, works for Chicago Public Schools as a security officer. She said school authorities called and said that her grandson ran out of the school, according to the news outlet.
Hope Pinkston asked if anyone had followed her grandson out of the school, the principal replied, saying the staff was advised not to chase after him. According to Herbert, the school staff told the parents of the nine-year-old that he had been violent—fighting, kicking, and scratching the other kids—which had been a lie.
“CPS officials at Fiske Elementary School lied to police after they shoved and pushed a nine-year-old boy onto the streets of Englewood. Englewood is one of Chicago’s most violent neighborhoods. The boy had no coat in cold weather during the middle of the school day. The school claimed he was a “missing person who was violent,” the lawsuit statement read, according to ABC News. “About 30 minutes later, police found the boy outside in the cold terrified and crying. The video shows that school officials lied.”
When the family received the surveillance video that featured what actually happened, they were shocked, according to CBS.
“You actually get to see the truth and to see that this is what they’ll do with a child. It hurts that it’s my child, but I worked with kids for 4.5 years; I don’t care how hard the day gets, you don’t do this to a child,” Yvonne Pinkston said.
Following that, they filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Board of Education, and everyone involved—the principal, the student counselor, and the security guard. The lawsuit accused the school of exerting excessive force, unreasonable seizure, creating a hostile educational environment, as well as other accusations, according to CBS News.
“I feel like everybody in the video that just sat here and just let it happen, nobody stopped it, someone needs to go to jail for it or something. That’s neglect. It’s endangerment. Anything could have happened to my son out there in that neighborhood,” Yvonne Pinkston said, according to ABC News.
The incident left the nine-year-old with very horrific memories of the event. The boy now sees a psychologist every week, the lawsuit states.
According to ABC, the Chicago Public School Board spokesperson, Emily Bolton, called allegations made by the family “disturbing.”
“Every CPS student deserves access to a safe and welcoming school environment, and the district takes seriously all allegations of student harm. These allegations are deeply disturbing, and we are fully committed to holding accountable any adult whose actions could have endangered a student,” Bolton said.
