My name is Patty Ludwikowski, I am a Mother of 4 children and 7 grandchildren, and I’ve lived in Taylor my entire life.

All my working life I’ve cared for our elderly in nursing homes or for children with disabilities, and I’ve loved serving my community that way. But now I need your help.

My grandson, Christian, is 12 years old, loves football, playing with his friends. He is enrolled in the Scranton School District, and is very smart and gets good grades, but sometimes he needs extra support to complete his tasks and to stay focused. Christian has Tourettes and ADHD, You can learn more here. https://tourette.org/ It is a Neurological condition that impacts impulse control, and consequently, it It requires an “Individual Education Program” (IEP) in school. In my experience with schools, they don't often like to provide them because they don't get enough funding for Special Education and dislike the paperwork.

In fact, 2 years ago my daughter had to hire a Lawyer and sue the Scranton School District to get an IEP for my grandson, Christian. If not for the help of the Tourettes Foundation and their attorneys, \ my grandson would not have received an IEP.

Ever since the approval of the IEP, the discrimination and retaliation escalated towards Chirstian, refusing him allotted extra time for test taking, being able to excuse himself, being dismissed two minutes prior to dismissal bells to avoid high traffic areas, and to be specifically talked to with direction, not scolded.

On 5/17/2024, at Northeast Intermediate school in Scranton Pa, Christian, was involved in what the district called a horseplay incident on the stairwell, an incident that he should not have even had the chance to participate in, because he has an IEP which indicates he should be released two minutes before all bells.

During this incident Christian, who is a young boy weighing 89 lbs, was choked and threatened to be thrown down the steps by the Security Officer. We thought Security Officers were placed in our schools to protect children from harm,not to be a Hall Monitor for the Scranton School District, or to physically assault children for horseplaying with friends.

Scared, confused, and traumatized by the incident, Christian threw up his hands, yelled "get off me, leave me alone”, and tried to run crying for help, towards his principal and away from the school resource officer. At the time of being grabbed, he threw his hands back and did not want to be near this officer. He did not understand or comprehend how he was in trouble. He is 12 with a VERY specific IEP. One that recommends specific techniques and training that were clearly not implemented. All the other children who were involved, were scared for Christian, and did not want to leave him alone with this Security Officer, maybe, fearful because some of the children are black or brown, like Christian, and they have seen so much violence against people who look like them! Another teacher/adult began to yell for the students who were present to GO back to class, “He will be fine, there are cameras.”

It took SIX days after the incident to finally get the “edited & approved” police report showing that the school resource officer (Victim), affiliated with Cardinal Point, filed simple assault and harassment charges, claiming Christian struck him in his bullet proof vest.

They didn’t do an investigation before charging a 12 year old, they didn’t watch the video of the incident, they didn’t speak to any students until AFTER they filed charge

This experience is traumatic for our family and especially for Christian in the short run, and in the long run can impact his future. We are asking you to help us seek justice for Christian, and to make sure that the District starts complying with his IEP.

How you can help: first, donate to the legal fund. Second, if you have had a similar experience with the Scranton School District contact us, because our kids deserve better from our school district.

We have found the best legal council to represent him both civilly and criminally, however, currently, we cannot afford it. It's not fair to anyone that only those who can afford good lawyers get justice, and we are asking you to pitch in.

If you have any similar stories about the district, NE intermediate, Cardian Point school resource officers, or other please share them with us at the below email, our legal team will be happy to review.

Stories4Christian12 at gmail.com

We cannot let this continue to happen to other CHILDREN in the school district. We need more leaders in the district who can put the children first. This call to action is to support Christian and all children with IEPs.