Since I first shared the details of our autistic son's arrest, I have repeatedly mentioned that there is much more going on than my wife and I can publicly share, and that remains true, even with this latest revelation, which we have known about for some time. We will continue to share new developments and revelations when we are able.

It is interesting to note that the the incident reported above happened on a day that was remarkably close to the day our son was arrested. In our personal thoughts, we wonder how various administrators within the Temecula Valley Unified School District suddenly decided to become involved in undercover sting operations that had many similar characteristics, and what made them feel they had justification to proceed?

It is also noteworthy that the Temecula Valley Unified School District continues to make curious use of it's funds. On the same day they received this latest notice of claim, which comes on the heels of our son's notice of claim, the school board authorized the layoff of 40 teachers.

And today, we are expecting to receive notice from a process server indicating that the District will be appealing the March 8 judge's order to have our son returned to his school.

It appears to us that the District is more interested in continuing an endless and very expensive vendetta against our son and our family than focusing on serving the students and taxpayers.

The Judge’s decision was based on the weight of the evidence and factual findings from the witnesses’ testimony, and she ruled in favor of our son on both issues. In her decision, she wrote, “Student has overwhelmingly demonstrated that his actions were a manifestation of his disability”.

In order for the expulsion process to be revived against our son, the District would have to persuade a Federal Judge that the Administrative Law Judge abused its discretion when making its factual findings and legal conclusions on not just one, but both of the issues, which is quite ambitious and misguided. Even if an appeal were to be heard, our son will likely have graduated by that time, which would make expulsion irrelevant, and the District’s true motive questionable.

This questionable use of public funds remains a significant issue for the TVUSD, and this frivolous appeal would be prolonged and costly. In fact, during the 2011-2012 school year, the district paid over half a million dollars in legal fees for special education legal related matters alone, and we don’t even know yet how much they spent going after our son. These are decisions made by people with steep six figure salaries while school programs, staff, supplies, etc. are slashed or eliminated. We question this poor judgment.

Is this only the tip of the iceberg? Stay tuned.

More breaking news:

Superintendent Timothy Ritter Named Educator of the Year

And no, it’s not from The Onion.

Modified version cross-posted at End Abuse in Special Education

For reference

Our Autistic Son was Handcuffed and Arrested in School, We Were Not Notified

Our Autistic Son's Arrest in the Press, YOU got the District's Attention, They Freak Out

Undercover deputy targeted mentally disabled teen, parents say

Our Autistic Son's Arrest: The Judge Has Ruled, VICTORY!!!

Our Autistic Son's Arrest: We're Suing the Bastards