A disabled 4-year-old boy has been airlifted to hospital for emergency treatment after he was found face down and unconscious in an elementary school pool.
Now his mother, Monica Leiva, is suing the Ontario-Montclair School District, alleging staff left him in two ponds, causing him to nearly drown.
Her son, referred to as JM in the complaint, is non-verbal, autistic and has spina bifida and hydrocephalus. He has an Individualized Education Plan that states he needs ongoing one-on-one supervision.
But on Dec. 12, she was left alone without a flotation device near the pool at Lincoln Elementary School in Ontario, according to the complaint filed in San Bernardino Superior Court on Wednesday.
During this time, he entered a pool and nearly died, the lawsuit says.
“This is every parent’s nightmare,” the family’s attorney, Robert Glassman, said in a statement. “A child with significant needs was left alone in a dangerous environment when he or she needed constant supervision. This is a catastrophic failure.”
A representative for the district did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
In an interview with the Ontario Police Department, a teacher’s aide reported that she was away from the boy for 10 minutes when she “started hearing people yelling and calling him,” according to a police report attached to the complaint.
JM’s teacher told police that he was unable to use his legs from the knees down and his only means of mobility was to pull himself up or down. According to the report, she admitted that she was supposed to be with the boy, but she was in class at the time of the incident.
The boy was taken to hospital for emergency treatment after he was found unconscious in the school pool.
(Paneesh Shia Ravipudi LLP)
The complaint alleges that after the boy received life-saving, emergency care, the district transferred him to a different school without the mother’s knowledge or consent.
The lawsuit describes it as an attempt to “quietly address the dangerous condition of the complex without publicly acknowledging the failures that nearly caused the JM to drown.”
The complaint says the mother previously submitted paperwork to the elementary school and district clearly stating that her son was not allowed to participate in pool activities.
According to the complaint, after the incident, JM’s cognitive function has decreased, he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and fears bath time – an activity he previously enjoyed.
The mother is suing the district for negligence and premises liability and is seeking damages in an amount to be determined at trial, along with medical bills, emotional distress and other relief the court deems appropriate.
