An upstate New York school district allegedly used a “box-shaped wooden dog cage” to keep an 8-year-old, nonverbal autistic boy under control during class — and the youngster’s parents are livid.
Rhonda Garrow, 37, a mom of four from Franklin County, filed a notice of claim Thursday informing the Salmon River Central School District that she will sue over the twisted treatment of her disabled son — seeking compensation and demanding no other child is subjected to cruel practice.
“I feel betrayed,” Garrow told The Post Thursday. “They used his disability against him because he can’t defend himself, he can’t stand up for himself. The only thing he can do is yell or cry or try to run away. And I feel that’s why they got this box so they can stuff him in there and just close the door.”
Garrow and the boy’s father, Jacob Sunday, claim in the court filing that the boy, identified only as M.J.S., was moved to the Salmon River elementary school on Dec. 12, and was just in his second day of classes there when a former district school board member blew the whistle on the boxes on Facebook.
“This is sick,” ex-board member Chrissy Jacobs said in the bombshell Dec. 15 post. “This is supposed to be a school for our beloved babies, not a prison with a kid size.”
She said the sick boxes were all the more disturbing since about 60% of district students — including Garrow’s son — are Native American, a population once forced to attend cruel boarding schools.
She said there were at least three similar boxes in use in the district.
Garrow said she was blindsided.
“My first thought was just like, ‘Whoa. That’s crazy,’” she said. “And I hoped my son was never in there. I commented on it and then somebody reached out to me and said that they heard it was for him.
“I was sick to my stomach,” Garrow said. “When I found out I was Christmas shopping and I had my cart full of stuff, and I just like cashed out and went to the car and just cried. I don’t even know what I even thought. I just had to get out of there.”
Her lawyer, Greg Rinckey, said he’s never seen anything like it in 28 years practicing law.
“I was an Army lawyer, I was an army JAG,” Rinckey said. “If any commander ever told me they were going to put a POW in this box, I would tell them they can’t. It’s in violation of the Geneva Convention.
“I mean, it’s just outrageous they were putting an 8-year-old child in these wooden crates,” he said. “It almost looks like the custodian or the janitor in the school district just built this out of plywood.”
Officials at the Salmon River Central School District did not respond to a request for comment.
In a statement after the controversy exploded online, School Board President Jason Brockway issued an apology, and told parents and promised an investigation — with the local tribal police, state troopers and the state Department of Education also probing.
On Thursday, the district announced that it had fired the schools superintendent and said a new acting schools chief was named at a school board meeting the day before.