A Bronx mother is calling for an investigation from the Department of Education, saying her son who has autism came home from school with a bruise on his face.
Christie Santiago-Holmes says her son Aumari came home from school with a bruise on his face one day before his 14th birthday.
“I noticed his face, and I immediately panicked,” said Christie.
Santiago-Holmes says she got a call from the school nurse at P 723X and received a letter stating her son “may have had a head injury at school” and that Aumari was “agitated, shouting and hitting his head on the padded wall in his space”. They did note in the letter that he was wearing a hard helmet at all times.
She says she has tried to get her son transferred to a different school since October. She says Aumari needs a more restrictive school that is more properly equipped to handle his autism.
During one of his outbursts, P 723X sent Aumari to a psychiatric emergency room, something Santiago-Holmes didn't feel was right.
“If they had more training and better staff to have patience with these type of children, then this wouldn’t be happening,” said Santiago-Holmes.
She reported the bruise to the NYPD and took her son to urgent care, all while ensuring Aumari will be starting at a new school on Jan. 14.
Santiago-Holmes says she will wait for the state to place Aumari in a new state-approved nonpublic school that she feels is best for his needs while he attends his new special education school.