St. Lucie County School Board and the St. Lucie County School Classroom Teachers Association in the Southern District of Florida have settled an incredible lawsuit that we previously discussed. The family of nine-year-old Alex Barton sued after teacher Wendy Portillo forced an autistic child to stand in front of the class and be criticized — and then invited the classmates to vote him out of the class. The school will now pay a $350,000 settlement — and Portillo will return to the classroom after a yearlong suspension.



The vote by his classmates was to toss him out of class by a 14 to 2 margin. Melissa Barton found her son in the nurse’s office where he had remained for the rest of the day.

Portillo testified at an earlier hearing. She gave details on highly disruptive conduct leading to her rather draconian response.

At the time, Alex was being diagnosed with Asperger’s autism. which leads to outbursts.

The family will receive $200,000 right away and Alex will received the rest in a structured settlement, starting in 2020, when he is 18 years old.

The school refused to admit any wrongdoing.

Portillo’s lawyer stated publicly that she “is just very happy to be back in the classroom doing what she loves to do.”

We previously saw the use of Pol Pot techniques by other teachers in controlling students.

Jonathan Turley

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