Mother says Spring ISD denied disabled son services, seeks $1M

The mother of a disabled child is suing the Spring ISD, alleging teachers neglected and abused her son. 

Clemmie St. Amand filed the lawsuit on Oct. 14 against the principal of Ricky C. Bailey Middle School, Veronica Vijil, and two employees, Stacie Madden and Christian Bailes, alleging the school neglected and abused her severely disabled son by failing to change his diaper when needed.

 

St. Amand said in the suit that her son, Reginald Ratcliff II, then 12, was being discriminated against by the school district and the three defendants when they denied him "toileting services" at the middle school in October 2008. 

 

St. Amand asserts that the denial does not provide Ratcliff with the required Free Appropriate Education and is a violation of her son's Individual Education Plan (IEP). She also alleges that Madden falsified government documents on Oct. 14, 2008 by claiming Ratcliff had in fact been given toileting services.

 

The defendants' actions, the lawsuit states, have caused Ratcliff to suffer emotional distress. 

 

St. Amand, who is also disabled and living on government assistance, filed the suit without an attorney on a "pro se" basis. 

 

She is seeking a sum of $1 million from the defendants, both jointly and respectively, along with prejudgment interest, post judgment interest, attorney's fees and call costs relating to the suit.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at the Harris County Courthouse. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.