CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A Cambridge family is furious after they told Boston 25 that a DCF representatives called them Wednesday morning that their autistic son was assaulted on his school bus last week by a bus monitor.
Linda and Jeffery Vick said their son Noah, a 9-year-old on the autism spectrum, attends the New England Center for Children in Southboro.
Noah’s transportation, they say, is provided by Cambridge’s school district.
Wednesday morning, Linda said she got a phone call from DCF, who allegedly told her that a bus monitor had assaulted her son on the way to school last week.
“When [Noah] gets home, I’m going to say I’m sorry,” she said.
Jefferey tearfully added, “I almost lost it today.”
The DCF representative allegedly told Linda that the incident on October 28th was caught on the bus’s camera.
She explained, “The monitor was restraining him, and pinning him against the window, and telling him he’s the devil, and the devil needs to come out of him... All they could say was he looked a little agitated. She grabbed him to restrain him, and then he got more agitated.”
Jeffery added, “You could hear the voice saying, ‘You got the devil in you! You’re not going to put it inside me.’”
The two told Boston 25 DCF would not give them the video.
The family said Noah, who’s nonverbal, had marks on his neck and ears. They said he didn’t want to go to school last week.
That day, Linda remembered coming face-to-face with the substitute bus monitor, she said.
“She was like. ‘Get your kid off this bus!’ And I was like, ‘Excuse me?”
In a statement, a DCF spokesperson told Boston 25 on Wednesday, “The Department of Children and Families received a report and is investigating.”
An NRT Bus spokesperson also wrote, “Student safety is our top priority, and we are fully cooperating with the authorities and DCF in this open investigation.”
The New England Center for Children told Boston 25 News they were ”deeply saddened" by the allegations.
“We will support the family, Cambridge Public Schools, and the Department of Children and Families (DCF) in their investigation. All transportation for our day students is the responsibility of their local public-school districts. The safety and well-being of our students is our highest priority,” an organization spokesperson told Boston 25 News.
A Cambridge Public School spokesperson said Wednesday:
“CPS was initially alerted to what was described as a peer to peer physical altercation during a route by NRT vehicle. We immediately contacted the vendor to obtain any relevant security footage. Upon review of the footage it became apparent that an NRT staff member, while attempting to prevent the student from inflicting harm on anyone, appears to have engaged in an improper restraint of the student’s wrists. NRT has placed that employee on leave and informed us that a 51a (child endangerment report) was filed with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. To our knowledge, DCF has not made any determinations with respect to that report.”
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Linda and Jeffery waited for Noah to get off the same bus Wednesday night.
She finished, “These companies who have the monopoly on transporting special needs children, who can’t speak for themselves and tell you what’s going on, they should have a responsibility of their safety in their hands.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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