Rights Claim Filed for Boy School District Tried to Oust

Jim Peters, father of the 6-year-old boy whose school district went to court to oust him from his mainstream kindergarten class because of allegedly violent behavior, said Thursday that he has filed a federal civil rights claim alleging that school administrators are harassing his child.

Peters said he filed the complaint Wednesday with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

But John Palomino, regional director for the civil rights office in San Francisco, said he would not be able to verify receipt of the complaint for several days.

Peters declined Thursday to detail the allegations made in the complaint.

Ocean View School District officials filed suit in Superior Court on May 25, asking a judge to bar Peters’ son Jimmy from attending the mainstream kindergarten class at Circle View Elementary School. The suit alleged that Jimmy hit his teachers, bit other students and picked up a chair with the intention of throwing it at another student.

According to state law, the district can move a special education student from a mainstream classroom only with a parent’s permission or a court order. Peters has refused permission.

Peters has denied the allegations against his son, calling them “out and out lies.”

The case was transferred to federal court and in a June 8 ruling, U.S. District Judge Matthew Byrne ordered the school district to allow Jimmy back into his classroom. Byrne concluded that school officials did not prove Jimmy was a danger to himself or others.

But after a meeting last week at which Peters and school officials agreed to a program of one-on-one summer school lessons for Jimmy at Circle View, Peters said he decided that administrators were attempting to circumvent Byrne’s ruling.