Lawsuit: Marblehead school used illegal restraints on METCO student, including trapping him in gym mat

A 9-year-old Black METCO student was allegedly restrained on more than 11 occasions in four months in Marblehead, including trapping him in a gym mat and causing asthma attacks that, in one instance, necessitated emergency medical treatment. 

Lawyers for Civil Rights filed a lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court on Wednesday against the town of Marblehead, Marblehead Public Schools, and several Marblehead school employees on behalf of the mother and her son, M.W., who wish to keep their names private, accusing school employees of unlawfully restraining him and violating the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act. 

According to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, restraints are limited in Massachusetts and forbidden for students like M.W., who has asthma. 

Lawyers for Civil Rights say this case is part of a growing trend of unlawful physical restraints being used against children of color in the state. Earlier this year, the organization settled a similar matter against the Walpole Public Schools, where a 9-year-old Black boy was handcuffed by police and forcibly removed from the classroom. 

Both cases involved students of color attending predominantly white schools through the Metropolitan Council Education Opportunity (METCO) program. In the Marblehead schools, 83.3% of students are white, and only 2.6% are Black. 

Erika Richmond Walton, an attorney with Lawyers for Civil Rights, acknowledges that several cases surrounding METCO students have been filed recently. 

“But I want to make clear first that METCO was not the problem,” said Richmond Walton. “The problem lies with these school districts being ill-equipped to welcome and make a safe place for Black and Latinx children. They are culturally incompetent and don’t seem to want to do the work that it takes to be a safe place for all students.”

The Marblehead superintendent’s office did not respond to a request for comment Friday. In a brief statement released to the Boston Globe, Marblehead officials said, “The School District will review this pending litigation with counsel, and counsel will advise on the appropriate response. As always, we place the safety and wellbeing of our students and our staff members above all else.”

Richmond Walton said that even though M.W. has moved to a different school, the lingering effects of what happened in Marblehead remain. M.W. continues to have issues adjusting to being with other students and teachers and is exhibiting signs of “severe residual trauma,” she said.

“It’s very hard to see that my baby is not the same,” R.W.’s mother said in a statement. “I cry every day.”

What happened?

In September of last year, M.W., a Black third-grader, was enrolled at Glover Elementary School in Marblehead as part of METCO, a voluntary school integration program. 

His mother enrolled M.W. in the METCO program, hoping he would benefit from attending a school with more rigorous academics and broader extracurricular activities. 

“But then it turned out that it was a nightmare,” said Richmond Walton. 

According to the complaint, within four months of attending the school, Glover employees “brutally and impermissibly restrained” M.W. numerous times. 

In these instances, the complaint said, Marblehead employees, often two at a time, stood on either side of M.W., forcibly grasped his wrists to restrain him, and at times pushed him forward so quickly that he lost his footing and was dragged down school hallways. 

The complaint said that three school employees encircled M.W. with a large gym mat on at least one occasion, trapping him inside. The teachers then pushed the mat to “transport” M.V. where they wanted him. 

Marblehead employees also isolated M.W. in empty rooms, leaving him “alone, upset, and afraid,” the complaint alleges.

On Dec. 6, 2023, M.W. was transported to the hospital because his asthma attack could not be controlled following one of these incidents. 

A school staff member said to have witnessed the incident filed an anonymous complaint with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF), which sustained allegations of neglect against the five teachers involved. 

An independent investigation done by Comprehensive Investigations and Consulting, LLC — a third-party consulting firm retained by the Marblehead Public Schools — also found evidence of neglect stemming from one of the incidents in which Marblehead employees restrained M.W. 

One of the 11 teachers listed in the complaint resigned, and the rest are still employed by the school district. 

The teachers should have known better than to restrain a child who they knew had asthma, said Richmond Walton.

“He had an inhaler that he kept in the nurse’s office,” Richmond Walton said. “And they still put hands on him 11 times.”

The new reforms implemented by DESE require the school to report instances of restraint to the parent by phone within 24 hours and by writing within three days, Richmond Walton said. The reforms also restrict mechanical restraints or the use of physical devices or equipment to restrict a student’s freedom of movement. The rules also say a child with asthma can never be restrained. 

Richmond Walton said there are two violations in this case alone. 

“And what we’re seeing is that these reforms are not keeping the children safe, and schools are underreporting their numbers and are not notifying parents when they should,” said Richmond Walton. “They’re using unlawful restraint practices.”