ADAMS TWP — A 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 money sought 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.

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 his 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.

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