Wednesday, September 12, 2012
With members of the community and School Committee calling for an independent investigation into allegations of mistreatment of students that arose over the weekend, the schools chief is asking the state to step in.
Superintendent of Schools Paul Ash is asking the Department of Children and Families to investigate two reports of young students with special needs being left in “time out” rooms following allegations of abuse within the Lexington Public Schools. In a phone interview with Patch, Ash reiterated his belief that school staff acted appropriately during incidences of alleged abuse involving a Fiske Elementary School student being left in a time out room during the 2005-2006 school year. However, as members of the community have called for an independent investigation of the allegations, Ash said he felt filing a 51A report was the best way to allay those concerns. “In the abundance of caution, the prudent thing to do is file with the state,” …
An excerpt from Superintendent of Schools Paul Ash's remarks at the start of the Sept. 11 School Committee meeting.
Addressing the public during a Sept. 11 School Committee meeting, Lexington Superintendent of Schools Paul Ash said there is a "significant gap" between allegations of the past mistreatment of a kindergartener and his review of the “detailed contemporaneous notes” from the day. Residents and School Committee members both called for an indepentent investigation into the situation, which allegedly occurred during the 2005-2006 school year, as a means to bridge those gaps and bring transparency to the situation. Members of the public also sought assurances that the types of practices in question -- mainly the placement of children in "time out" rooms outside the classroom -- are not still used in the Lexington Public Schools. LPS Officials …
As the Lexington Public Schools deal with shocking allegations of mistreatment of a special needs student six years ago, parents and School Committee members want an investigation into the incident and records from the time.
“Welcome to the 21st Century Classroom,” read yellow letters across a blue screen behind the stage at Cary Hall as the room slowly filled with residents and media. The cheery message was a stark contrast to the reason the masses assembled here on a chilly September night. Most of them weren't there for the presentation on an iPad pilot program at Lexington High, or to hear the latest about the three elementary school building projects. The electricity in the air had sparked a few days earlier, with the publication over the weekend in the New York Times of an opinion piece in which a former Lexington resident makes shocking allegations of the mistreatment of his daughter when she was a student in the Lexington Public Schools. According to…
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Cary Memorial Building
1605 Massachusetts Ave, Lexington, MA
/articles/residents-school-committee-members-call-for-independent-review-of-isolation-room-complaints
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/locations/7790011
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
At the start School Committee's meeting at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Cary Hall, Superintendent of Schools Paul Ash is expected to address allegations that a kindergartner with special needs was locked in a closet six years ago.
A former Lexington resident's allegations that his daughter was locked in a basement closet with padded walls six years ago as a kindergartner in the Lexington Public Schools have taken the town by storm over the past few days. Superintendent of Schools Paul Ash issued a statement Monday night in response to the allegations, first published by the New York Times over the weekend. And the schools chief is expected to have more to say at the start of the School Committee's meeting at 7:30 p.m. at Cary Hall. School Committee Chairwoman Margaret Coppe first said Ash would address the allegations in an email last night to Patch. She reiterated the statement this afternoon on Yahoo discussion group popular with residents. Bill Lichtenstein …
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-71.22389
Cary Memorial Building
1605 Massachusetts Ave, Lexington, MA
/articles/lps-officials-to-further-address-seculsion-room-allegations-tonight
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/locations/7811158
The following statement was provided by Bill Lichtenstein, the former Lexington resident who claims his then-5-year-old daughter was mistreated while a kindergartener in the Lexington Public Schools.
In Travis Andersen's article in today's Boston Globe (9/11/2012), Lexington school superintendent Dr. Paul Ash supposedly "rebuked" the New York Sunday Times story I wrote on the use of restraints and seclusion in schools and the case of my daughter Rose. But he failed to dispute any of the facts. His claim: no one did anything wrong. Read the statement Ash released last night. Below are the documents from the administrative action in [Lichtenstein's daughter's] case that resulted in the settlement. They were handled by our attorney, and the charges made in them were based on Lexington Public School's records, files and depositions with school staff. I defy anyone to read them, particularly the 20-page "Parents Proposed Findings of Fact …
A former Lexington resident opens up about the OpEd he penned for the New York Times alleging his daughter, then a 5-year-old special needs student, was locked in a closet by educators within the Lexington Public Schools.
It wasn’t the settlement or his daughter's recovery that motivated journalist and former Lexington resident Bill Lichtenstein to write an OpEd for the New York Times about the alleged mistreatment of his daughter, then a kindergartener, within the Lexington Public Schools six years ago. It was Jerry Sandusky. Or, rather, it was the seismic fallout from the child abuse scandal that rocked Penn State, tarnished the reputation of legendary football coach Joe Paterno and forced the responsibility of adults to protect children into the public consciousness. In a piece published over the weekend by the New York Times, Lichtenstein writes about “seclusion rooms” as a cruel punishment for special needs students, and the shock of finding his …
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Fiske Elementary School
55 Adams St, Lexington, MA
/articles/lichtenstein-explains-times-oped-allegations-against-lps
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/locations/7811216
Monday, September 10, 2012
In a written statement, Superintendent of Schools Paul Ash rejects claims made in an OpEd column by former Lexington resident Bill Lichtenstein, published over the weekend by the New York Times, that his daughter was mistreated at Fiske.
The following statement was provided by School Committee Chairwoman Margaret Coppe, on behalf of Superintendent of Schools Paul Ash. The bolded emphasis is theirs. Ash is also expected to address the issue at the School Committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 11. Read about the shocking allegations here. The Lexington Public Schools maintains a written policy concerning time-outs and our policy reflects and has always reflected State law. The Lexington Public Schools keeps and has always kept meticulous records involving the education and treatment of Special Education students. Our notes involving the student in question, which were written on the days in question, do not reflect the account as described in the op-ed column. When …
School officials are “very concerned” over allegations of mistreatment of a kindergartener with speech and language delays.
A opinion piece published this weekend by the New York Times has gone viral here in Lexington and has residents and school officials concerned over allegations of mistreatment a 5-year-old student in the Lexington Public Schools. The piece, penned by Bill Lichtenstein, paints a disturbing portrait of a kindergartener with speech and language delays being shut away in a “seclusion room.” According to Lichtenstein, the incidents involving his daughter, Rose, at the Lexington Public Schools occurred six years ago and the action the family brought against the LPS was settled when the district agreed to pay for Rose’s treatment. However, Lichtenstein’s allegations—particularly the part when he describes arriving at the unnamed school with his …
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Promotes and supports Best Buddies friendship program.
The halls of Lexington High are usually empty on weekends. Last Saturday, however, they were filled with crafters, LABBB Collaborative teachers and students and Best Buddies, all there for the second annual Holiday Craft Fair. Most around here know LABBB is an acronym for the award-winning collaborative school that officially includes: Lexington, Arlington, Bedford, Burlington and Belmont. The five communities are part of a consortium that teaches children with special needs from childhood until they are 22-years-old. The craft fair benefited LABBB's Best Buddies, a program that pairs students with peers from the collaborative communities, and was organized by LABBB Workshop Training Center Supervisor Janet Paz. Rebecca Borja of …
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-71.23178
Lexington High School
251 Waltham St, Lexington, MA
/articles/about-town-best-buddies
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/locations/5972386
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Advice for the modern dad, pet-lovers unite, many meetings and YouthStage auditions on this (probably) rainy day in Lexington.
1. Tonight at the Depot, Lexington Community Education will present an evening with John Badalament, author of "Modern Dad’s Dilemma: How To Stay Connected with Your Kids in a Rapidly Changing World." The event's at 7 p.m., cost is $10 and pre-registration was strongly recommended, so it might not be a bad idea to check with info@lexingtoncommunityed.org beforehand. 2. Attention pet-lovers. Nick Trout, author of "Every By My Side," will be at Cary Memorial Library at 7 p.m. tonight for a free event. 3. Lot of public meetings for a Thursday, according to the town website's calendar. Meetings posted for today include the Tree Committee at 7:30 a.m. at the Public Works Building; the Bicycle Advisory Committee at 7 p.m. at the Town Office …
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-71.218284
Munroe Center for The Arts
1403 Massachusetts Ave, Lexington, MA
/articles/five-things-you-need-to-know-today-oct-13-db098d74
188263
/locations/5579509
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-71.224282
Town Office Building
1625 Massachusetts Ave, Lexington, MA
/articles/five-things-you-need-to-know-today-oct-13-db098d74
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/locations/5579510
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-71.229319
Cary Memorial Library
1874 Massachusetts Ave, Lexington, MA
/articles/five-things-you-need-to-know-today-oct-13-db098d74
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/locations/5579511
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-71.22389
Cary Memorial Building
1605 Massachusetts Ave, Lexington, MA
/articles/five-things-you-need-to-know-today-oct-13-db098d74
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/locations/5579512
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-71.22795
Lexington Depot
13 Depot Sq, Lexington, MA
/articles/five-things-you-need-to-know-today-oct-13-db098d74
232183
/locations/5579513
42.44628
-71.2677
Minuteman High School
758 Marrett Rd, Lexington, MA
/articles/five-things-you-need-to-know-today-oct-13-db098d74
188732
/locations/5579514
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-71.23865
Department of Public Works
201 Bedford St, Lexington, MA
/articles/five-things-you-need-to-know-today-oct-13-db098d74
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/locations/5579515
fitzroy
7:02 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012
Yeah, Government isn't typically compassionate...one could argue that our Government isn't designed for compassionate governing, it aspires to fair governing. Which would you rather have? more ›