Windsor schools pay $120,000 because teacher puts boot on 11-year-old’s head

Windsor Unified School District settled a complaint filed by the parent of an 11-year-old boy believed to have been abused by a special education teacher during a physical education class at Windsor Middle School, according to documents obtained by The Press Democrat.

The school district agreed to pay the boy and his mother $100,000 toward his education costs during the Feb. 29, 2024, incident in which the teacher was captured on video restraining the student, who had been diagnosed with autism, by putting her foot on his hand. head.

In addition to the $100,000, the district will also pay $20,000 to the law firm representing the boy’s mother, according to records obtained under the California Public Records Act. The boy’s mother’s lawyer Colleen Snyder of Snyder and Shaw of San Luis Obispodid not respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment.

The boy is no longer enrolled in the Windsor school system and the settlement is intended to cover the costs of his educational needs.

The teacher, who vehemently denied putting pressure on the boy’s head with her foot, resigned on June 7 and is being charged in criminal court with ‘intentional cruelty to a child’.

The terms of the settlement were discussed during a closed session of the Oct. 17 school board meeting. Closed hearings are common when governments discuss legal cases.

But the $120,000 appears to be one of two settlements likely resulting from the Feb. 29 incident that had some parents defend the teacher, Rachel Neu Cardoza, 36.

Records show that the district received a pre-litigation notice on May 23 that the mother would seek additional compensation for damages suffered, which is separate from the six-figure payout. Documents from June 20 show that the boy “suffered and continues to suffer physical and emotional injuries.”

A review of court records in federal, state and local jurisdictions shows that no formal lawsuit had yet been filed against the mother. But WUSD Superintendent Jeremy Decker recently told The Press Democrat that the school district’s insurance company, Redwood Empire Schools Insurance Groupis addressing other potential lawsuits related to the incident. A voicemail left by The Press Democrat with RESIG on Thursday was not returned.

In addition to the $120,000 payout, the settlement requires the school district to provide a two-hour training to its special education teachers on behavioral emergency protocols.

‘Meaned to soothe and tickle’

Cardoza was placed on paid administrative leave on March 1 while the school district began investigating the incident. The district hired Lisa Banayat, a retired Santa Rosa Police Department sergeant, as an independent investigator.

One witness, a teacher’s aide who was assisting in Cardoza’s classroom, saw Cardoza place her foot on the student’s head for “a second or two” while the students were in gym class, according to the district’s “charge and recommendation” for Cardoza’s resignation. . Cardoza was wearing boots at the time.

The assistant “decided to grab her cell phone and record it in case it happened again. And that happened. “For the second time, (Cardoza) placed her foot on (the boy’s) head and held it there for several seconds,” discharge records show.

School officials have declined to release the recording. The assistant who made the recording “believed that (the boy) was trying to remove the boot from his head with his hands and that (Cardoza) was applying enough pressure that” he could not do so.

Cardoza disputes that, the data shows. She explained in a July 5 letter to Superintendent Decker that the foot maneuver was “intended to soothe the boy” (and did so), who liked “tickles and cuddles to keep him happy and engaged at times when he would otherwise be impatient.” or get upset. such as waiting for an activity to start or for the bus to arrive.”

She told Decker that the boy “put his hands on my shoe and pressed harder on his head. At this point I pulled away. I didn’t put pressure on his head or hold him down. If he had been dissatisfied with the contact, it would have been clear on the video and to those around us.”

She added: “I understand that I should not have used my foot to make this contact. I deeply regret it and will never use my foot to physically stimulate a student again.”

Cardoza’s attorney during the school district investigation, Julia Harumi Mass of Rothner, Segall & Greenstone, told The Press Democrat that “Ms. Neu Cardoza has a deep commitment to and successful history of working with students with special needs – both at Windsor Unified and in previous positions – and after Ms. Neu Cardoza explained the situation “during a disciplinary hearing,” the district investigator concluded that she had not harmed the student.”