$5 million settlement in alleged abuse of autistic students - Philadelphia Inquirer

By Tom Infield
Inquirer Staff Writer

Parents who alleged that their autistic children had been tied to chairs with bungee cords and duct tape in a Scranton-area schoolroom have agreed to settle a federal civil-rights suit for $5 million.

Plaintiffs' attorneys said the settlement reached Thursday appeared to be the largest ever in Pennsylvania involving the abuse of children in a special-education classroom.

A report issued last year by the U.S. Government Accountability Office said such cases were on the rise nationally. A bill in Congress would set standards for when and how children could be restrained in schools for their own safety or the safety of others.

The allegations in the Scranton-area case went beyond restraint.

The parents of seven children at the Clarks Summit Elementary School in the Abington Heights School District contended that teacher Susan Comerford Wzorek slapped children, pulled them by the hair, and deliberately stepped on the insoles of their feet.

In one instance, an attorney said Friday, the teacher pulled a child across the room by a cast on his broken arm.

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Photo from the Scranton Times - Caption - Teacher Susan Comerford Wzorek pleaded no contest.