Police probe possible abuse of disabled student in Massachusetts

From Cape Cod Times:

MASHPEE – Local police are investigating the alleged abuse of a special needs student on a school bus, according to school district administrators and Mashpee parents.

Video tapes recorded on a Cape Cod Collaborative school bus appear to show evidence that a bus driver and bus monitor verbally, and possibly physically, abused the unidentified student, who has social and emotional disabilities, according to Peter Cohen, a Mashpee parent and chairman of the Special Education Parents’ Advisory Council, of which the student’s parent is a member.

Cohen has not viewed the tapes but has spoken with the parent of the child, who has seen the tape.

The parent requested to see the tapes after her child, a female of upper elementary school age, began returning home from school with increasing signs of agitation, Cohen said. The tapes appear to show that the bus driver verbally abused the child. The bus monitor, charged with keeping an eye on the students, may have manhandled the child in some way, he said.

Cape Cod Collaborative, a nonprofit organization, provides various educational services, including transportation, for special needs students throughout Cape Cod. Parents, bus drivers and school district administrators debated fiercely last year when the district elected to outsource its transportation to the Collaborative in a cost-savings measure.

Collaborative officials did not return calls for comment earlier today.

The Cape & Islands District Attorney’s Office would not comment and referred all questions to the Mashpee police. Mashpee Police Chief Rodney Collins also declined to comment on the specifics of the ongoing investigation, however, he said he expects information about the case to be released next week.

Mashpee schools Supt. Ann Bradshaw confirmed police are conducting an investigation, but she would not elaborate. She did acknowledge the incident in a phone message sent yesterday to district parents.

“The Police Department is investigating an alleged incident involving a Mashpee student on a Cape Cod Collaborative bus,” Bradshaw said, according to a transcription of the message obtained by the Times. “I expect there will be press coverage on the investigation, and I want to give you accurate information. As always, the safety of our students is our number one priority. Please call me if you have any questions.”