The Adams 12 Five Star School District is not talking, at least publicly, about a lawsuit alleging the district allowed a severely disabled 12-year-old student to break both of his legs when he lost control of his wheelchair on a ramp three years ago.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of the boy’s mother, Patricia Portillo Estrada. The lawsuit alleges Adams 12 violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide accommodations for the boy’s disability “manifested deliberate indifference to the plaintiff’s safety and to his federally protected rights,” according to a report by Colorado Public Radio.
The lawsuit alleges that the child continues to suffer mentally, physically, and emotionally, with feelings of humiliation, frustration, hopelessness, and isolation, CPR states.
Adams 12 Tuesday issued a statement saying the district’s practice is not to share information on pending or ongoing litigation.
“This child already has immense challenges in his life and now has the greater challenges and now is going to suffer the effects of these injuries for the rest of his life,” said Igor Raykin, the lawyer representing Estrada and her son. “And there is a cost associated with that that the school district should have to bear.”
Navigating a ramp
The boy, who was not named in the suit, has intellectual and physical disabilities that impair his walking, standing, working, learning, reading, concentrating and communicating, according to CPR.
The news outlet states that the boy uses a wheelchair, walker and a trike independently but requires supervision and assistance navigating ramps and uneven terrain, according to his Individualized Education Plan.
School security camera footage shows that on May 10, 2022, the boy tried to navigate a ramp between two classrooms at Rocky Mountain Elementary School but slid and crashed into a wall at the bottom, injuring himself, CPR states.
A school staff member discovered the boy at the bottom of the ramp but didn’t assist him, CPR states. The lawsuit says the boy gathered himself up and wheeled himself to class.
The lawsuit states that multiple staff members, according to an internal school report, noticed that the boy, who had fractured legs, was “on the verge of tears throughout the day” but nobody tried to investigate what was wrong. No school staff reported the boy’s injury, CPR states.
The lawsuit alleges the boy spent seven hours in severe pain before seeing his mother when she picked him up from the bus stop that afternoon.
Two days later, while at the hospital, the boy was diagnosed with bilateral fractures with severe swelling in his knees. He spent a month bedridden due to his injuries, and his mother had to quit her job to care for her son, according to the CPR report.