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Disability advocates allege abuse, neglect at Haverhill kindergarten

BOSTON - An advocacy group says it has uncovered evidence of abuse and neglect at a Massachusetts public kindergarten that serves many children with disabilities.

The Boston-based Disability Law Center said Thursday that among other things, the Crowell Kindergarten Center in Haverhill overused restraints on at least one 5-year-old student with disabilities and punished students for crying or acting up by keeping them in closets.

The Center said the school violated state and federal laws. It said it started investigating after receiving complaints about student treatment.

>>Read the full Disability Law Center investigation report

Crowell has about 150 students, including Tricia Escoto's twin 7-year-old daughters who both have autism.

“They would cry before they even got on the bus, like every time,” Escoto said. “They said the teachers were mean and that one teacher had hit them.”

Escoto said every time she'd confront administrators she was ignored.

“They would say ‘oh, the kids are lying. I don't know what you're talking about.’ And I was like ‘my kids don't lie,’” she said.

Haverhill Superintendent James Scully said in a statement that the district is reviewing the Center's report, and several issues have already been addressed since the allegations surfaced last year.
Scully did not say whether any staff was disciplined.

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