ADAMS TWP — An Adams Township mother is suing the Mars School District over the physical and emotional treatment of her 7-year-old first grader, who was expelled by the school board in November.

In the lawsuit, the unnamed woman asks for punitive damages in excess of $500,000 and more than $75,000 in compensatory damages. She also accuses the district of 14 violations against her son. Part of the money request is for tuition and other costs at a private school for the boy through 12th grade.

The woman names as defendants Mars Primary Center Principal Adam Kostewicz, interim Superintendent William Pettigrew, the nine members of the school board and the school district.

The suit was filed Wednesday in federal court in Pittsburgh by her attorney, John P. Corcoran Jr. of Jones, Gregg, Creehan and Gerace of Pittsburgh.

School district attorney Tom Breth said he could not comment on the lawsuit as the district hadn’t been served with it as of Thursday afternoon.

“I will say the Mars Area School District is one of the best school districts in Western Pennsylvania, and we’ll defend whatever suit has been filed as soon as we’re served with it,” he said.

Among the violations listed in the lawsuit are assault and battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and two violations of the child’s civil rights.

At the heart of the woman’s allegations is the district’s treatment of her son, who has been diagnosed and receiving treatment for oppositional defiant disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Among other accusations, the woman accuses Kostewicz of grabbing the 42-pound child and dragging him down a hallway, pulling his arm in a violent manner, grabbing the boy by the shoulders and pressing down on his torso, screaming in his face, and wrenching his torso.

The suit also alleges that the child was placed in a “safe room” at the primary center for more than three hours “in essentially a solitary confinement with no tutor” on numerous occasions.

The suit said the district alleges the child on Oct. 27 kicked a teacher, pushed a student and overturned tables in a room, but that a report by district employees created soon after the incident never mentioned kicking.

Kostewicz also paraded the child before his classmates, and enlisted Adams Township police officers to parade the student before his classmates to humiliate and ostracize him, the suit alleges.

The child was suspended multiple times in September and October for disruptive behavior, and the school board voted in November to expel him from the primary center.

The child’s mother accuses the district of failing to properly handle her son’s disabilities and their resulting behaviors even though she told school officials of them before the school year began.

The lawsuit claims the boy was able to navigate at his kindergarten in Cranberry Township with the help of an on-site therapeutic staff support provider, “which enabled (him) to modify his behavior.”

The boy’s mother said Mars officials failed to provide a proper individualized education plan and failed to notify her in writing regarding some proceedings against her son, as required.

The suit accuses the district of actions meant to ultimately place the student in an off-campus educational facility “because he is too difficult to manage.” It also alleges that the district “has a policy to relegate disabled students to restrictive educational settings off-site” to avoid providing services in the regular classroom.

A hearing before a state special education hearing officer was held on Nov. 10, by which time the student had been suspended for 14 days and expulsion proceedings had begun.

During the expulsion proceedings, the district held a review that concluded, over the mother’s objections, that the child’s behaviors were not a result of his disability. The mother’s appeal of this conclusion resulted in the Nov. 10 hearing.

The hearing officer, after listening to testimony from several individuals, reviewing the district’s actions, and reviewing the child’s history, ruled that the student’s expulsion be rescinded.

She also ruled that the district:

n Ensure the student is accompanied by an adult during the school day

n Provide training by a behavior analyst for all school employees who have contact with the student

n Develop an appropriate individualized education plan for the student that includes a behavior support plan and educational placement recommendation

n Remain the student’s school unless the IEP team recommends, and the mother agrees to, a change of placement.

Corcoran said on Thursday that while the district rescinded the November expulsion as directed, the child has not returned to class.

“(The family) doesn’t want him going back to Mars because of the circumstances in the complaint,” Corcoran said.

He said the family plans to move the child to a private school in January. Corcoran did not name the school.

He hopes the trial, which does not yet have a date, will result in wholesale changes in the policies and procedures at Mars regarding students with disabilities.