6th-grader’s parents sue LTUSD, TVES
Crystal Aguilar is at the center of a lawsuit against Lake Tahoe Unified School District. Photo/Provided
By Kathryn Reed
Lake Tahoe Unified School District faces a lawsuit stemming from an incident at Tahoe Valley Elementary School that nearly killed a student.
Todd and Marisela Aguilar on behalf of their daughter, Crystal, who is now a sixth-grader at South Tahoe Middle School, are suing the district, TVES and Grace Magnussen. Magnussen was a physical education and special education teacher at TVES at the time of the April incident. She has since left the district.
“For us we would like the school to take more responsibility with these types of children and their needs,” Todd Aguilar told Lake Tahoe News.
Crystal was born with a crushed aortic valve and three holes in her heart. Two were repaired within days of her birth. She has had health issues ever since as well as learning disabilities. Each year her parents explain to school officials what their daughter’s limitations are.
On April 15 Crystal was told to run laps with the other kids; this in turn caused her to have a heart attack, her father said.
It is what happened that day that has led to the lawsuit. A claim was filed with the district in May and it was rejected in June. A court date has been set for February.
“We are working on it together,” Superintendent Jim Tarwater said of the lawsuit. He could not discuss the district’s stance as is normal with any litigation.
Mike Doyle, who is on the school board, is also Crystal’s pediatrician.
The Aguilars contend the teacher should have known having Crystal run would have risked her health. It in turn meant more medical expenses for the family. The suit also contends Crystal faces permanent disability because of the incident, will have more expenses and that the family is losing income based on Todd Aguilar having to miss work because of his daughter’s needs.
“The best outcome for Crystal is it’s all about her health. We want to make sure she gets the proper care she needs and she can move on with her life,” Aguilar said.
The couple also hopes the lawsuit will ensure teachers are properly trained to handle the needs of children like Crystal.
Crystal has been having seizures lately, which according to her father, was not happening before the heart attack. A trip to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento is scheduled for this month to try to address this latest medical issue.
Horrible. How could the teacher not know?
Ya seems weird to me.. And it is horrible.. I can’t imagine a teacher making a girl run laps who has a known heart condition. Perhaps there is more to this story..
Are they really called teachers today ? I some times wonder.
Sure Linda. Blame the teacher. What do you do for work?
tahoebluewire:
In case you haven’t noticed, these lapses of responsibility are now happening throughout society on a regular basis. . .
How about the autistic 6-year-old fatally shot several times by “deputies” (who deputized them ?) in the serving of a warrant on his Dad even when there was none. . . think these are different scenarios (?). . .
Think again – we are quite often welcoming extra recognition of wanting to be in a responsible position (title, money, accolades, etc.), but are ill-equipped to pay attention to what that entails (caveat emptor, anyone ?). . . until it happens. . .
The mother of my children could not get a clinic appointment after 3 previous tries – being continually “brushed off” as malingering – when on the 4th try [with serious “trouble breathing”], she was IMMEDIATELY flown to UCDavis, where she then suffered a stroke when they started working on her BLOCKED AORTA, so paying attention is indeed in short-supply these days. . . whose ‘fault’ do you think that is (?)
So, are Physicians Assistants really called Dr.’s, or do we merely wait for one to prescribe the latest pharmaceutical W/O knowing the ailment completely (?)… & then be sent home. . .
A society falls apart when no one accepts responsibility and finds excuses not to change a thing they’re doing & how they’re doing it. . .that’s the moral of this story – and it gets worse all the time. . .which might get worse again when the lawyers try to impugn the 6-year-old for simply being there, following instructions from “a mature, responsible adult”…who’s no doubt considered to have great judgment.
What happened to “better safe than sorry” (?). . .
What exactly does Linda’s line-of-work have to do with Crystal’s serious predicament (?). . .
Pay attention to what’s important ! . . .this can not go on
. . .
Wait for the facts please, the school district deserves a chance to respond
The truth is that the school had no record of Crystal’s health condition. The only thing in the file related to his is that a parent indicated that she had “heart problems.” The school requested health records to confirm this, with no response from the parents. Without medical records, the school is unable to determine what she can or can’t do or provide a specific health plan. The parents failed to respond to the district’s requests of medical records for years. Still, she was never forced to run laps. Also, the teacher was not a special education teacher. Obviously there was no fact checking on this article. Employees of the district have been instructed to not respond to any of the allegations. So unfortunately all that is out there are misrepresentations from the parent in attempt to get money from the district. Don’t get me wrong, no one is unsympathetic to the issue of her health. But the information being put out there is skewed.
If your kid is that bad and not able to do normal things, be a responsible parent and homeschool
Joe,
NONE of the children in Special Education classes are able to do NORMAL things:( You should be a little more careful with your pronouncements!
Robin, kids with special needs can do normal things. You should be a little more careful with your pronouncements.
Travas,
My credentials ( many of them:) are in Special Education, whence I speak.
Joe-your statement is wrong on so many levels-do you consider being willfully ignorant about special needs children to be acceptable behavior? It’s just your kind of foxnooz/wingnut radio low-info hate and fear for the ‘other’ that is destroying our country
Tea,
I did my student teaching at C Melvin Sharp Health School in Washington D.C. Elementary and Secondary.
Spoke with the school 2 yrs ago and one of my supervising teachers (a D.C. teacher of the year as they both, elementary and secondary, were) was still there.
C Melvin Sharpe Health School
4300 13th St NW
Washington, DC 200011
202-576-6161
grades PK-12
Robin-you should eliminate or use your emoticons better so people don’t misunderstand your comments-I didn’t understand your post with the sad face after the 1st sentence-sorry
Tea…TY I’ll be more careful.
I meant that I was unhappy about the misstatement of JOE.
Apparently Travas has a problem, he almost got a :(…LOL
If what Erica states is correct, that puts an entirely different spin on the situation.
Linda showed her true ignorance , that no teacher can fix, with her question regarding teachers.
Look to blame others for your failed life…I only can hope you have no children.
Are you telling me that a child can go from Kinder to 6th grade without the school/school district knowing about her medical issues….this I doubt! Are you trying to say that this medical issue was never brought up in any of the many IEP’s they have had. Doesn’t make sense! Stop making excuses for the school district! Its easier to deny knowing whats going on than dealing with the issue at hand, which is that school staff knew her issues and did not deal with them correctly. Take ownership of your faults!!!!
It was a question ,and a statement perascope. Who ever you are, Do not judge me, and say, hope I have no children,You are rude,and Get on a plane and fly away,please.I was not judging. .
though i am empathetic with regards to crystal’s health, this is an attempted money grab. tort reform.