A 4-year-old disabled boy was flown to a hospital for emergency treatment after he was found face down and unconscious in an elementary school swimming pool.
Now his mother, Monica Leiva, is suing the Ontario-Montclair school district, alleging that staff abandoned him in two pools, causing him to nearly drown.
Her son, referred to as JM in the complaint, is nonverbal and autistic and has spina bifida and hydrocephalus. He has an individualized educational plan that indicates he needs ongoing individualized supervision.
But on Dec. 12, he was left alone by the pools at Lincoln Elementary School in Ontario without any flotation devices, according to the complaint filed Wednesday in San Bernardino County Superior Court.
During this time, he entered one of the pools and nearly died, the lawsuit states.
“This is every parent's nightmare,” Robert Glassman, the family's attorney, said in a statement. “A child with significant needs was left alone in a dangerous environment when he needed constant supervision. That is a catastrophic failure.”
A district representative 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 had been away from the boy for 10 minutes when she “started hearing people frantically yelling and calling for him,” according to a police report attached to the complaint.
JM's teacher told police that the boy cannot use his legs from the knees down and that his only means of mobility is to crawl or stand up. She acknowledged that she was supposed to stay with the child, but was in the classroom at the time of the incident, the report said.
After the boy received life-saving emergency care, the district transferred him to a different school without the mother's knowledge or consent, the complaint alleges.
The lawsuit characterizes this as “an effort to quietly address the dangerous condition of the campus without publicly acknowledging the failures that led to JM's near drowning.”
The mother had previously submitted documentation to the elementary school and the district clearly stating that her son was not allowed to participate in pool activities, the complaint states.
Following the incident, JM has shown decreased cognitive function, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and is terrified of bath time, an activity he previously enjoyed, according to the complaint.
The mother is suing the district for negligence and premises liability and is seeking damages in an amount to be determined at trial for medical bills, emotional distress and other relief the court deems appropriate.
