Paterson schools investigate red marks on student

PATERSON — City education officials have confirmed they are investigating an incident in which family members of a 6-year-old girl with autism said the child came home from school on June 13 with red marks around her neck.

The girl’s mother said the child is “non-verbal” and “low-functioning” and has been unable to tell family members what happened to her. She attends the Paterson district’s Rutland Center for children with autism at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Education Complex, her family said.

“The staff is saying there were no marks on the child when the child left at dismissal,” Paterson Schools Superintendent Eileen Shafer said at last Thursday night’s Board of Education meeting when the girl’s grandmother, Francesca Nunez, spoke about the situation.

Shafer said last Thursday that the district was waiting for the video from the bus company that transports the girl between her home and school. District officials would not say Tuesday whether they had obtained that video yet and whether they have viewed it.

“We have started our own investigation into the matter, the details of which cannot be divulged since it is ongoing,” the district said Tuesday.

But a representative of the company, We Care Transportation of Paterson, said nothing happened to the girl on the bus that day. “We’re all cleared,” said the woman, who would identify herself only as part of We Care’s management.

The girl’s mother and grandmother said they believe something happened at the school — not on the bus —to cause the red marks on her neck.

The mother, Cassandra Saico, said her daughter showed no signs that she was upset by anyone on the bus on the day the marks appeared. The girl gave the bus aide her normal hug goodbye when she left the vehicle on June 13 and then waved goodbye to the bus staff.

Saico said her daughter is in a classroom with four other children, along with a teacher and an instructional aide. But she said she was not satisfied with the level of supervision in the classroom. Saico said she has requested that her daughter be transferred to a different school in Paterson.

The child did not need medical care, her mother said.