‘Reprehensible’: Parents of 10-year-old Black Boy Allegedly Locked In Closet and Physically Abused File Complaints Against School District And Its After-School Program

The parents of a 10-year-old Black student have filed escalating legal claims against the Palo Alto, California school district, alleging that their son was physically abused by staff and students in an after-school program, and then subjected to racist bullying and harassment at school after they complained about it. Their original claim filed in July alleges that the boy, a special needs student at Escondido Elementary School, was 9 years old when he was abused by Daniel Bueno, a staff member of the Right At School after-school program based at the school. The claim says one afternoon in January Bueno “used his body to block the child inside a closet” for more than 10 minutes as the panicked student called his parents using a smart watch, reported Palo Alto Online. On another day, ostensibly to punish the boy for using a curse word, Bueno allegedly encouraged other students to step on and kick the boy in the genitals, and “held the boy’s legs wide open” while another student did so. The Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) and Right At School say that Bueno was immediately fired for violating the after-school program’s policies, one day after the boy’s mother reported...