‘Are You Going to Stay Awake?’: Pennsylvania Teacher Tied Black Student to a Board By His Neck for Napping In Class, Lawsuit Says
The parents of a Black high school student are suing the Williamsport Area School District in Pennsylvania after their son was strapped to a medical backboard by a teacher for appearing to sleep during class. The incident occurred on May 28 in the classroom of Richard Caschera, who was hired by Williamsport Area High School three weeks earlier to teach in the homeland security program of the school’s career and technical education program. Caschera had no prior teaching experience and held a temporary teaching certificate that did not require any education credentials, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania on Aug. 21 and obtained by Atlanta Black Star. Page Carol Woods (left) and Nathaniel Woods, Jr. (right), the parents of a high school student at Williamsport Area High School in Pennsylvania, are suing the school district for assault, battery and civil rights violations after a teacher allegedly strapped their son to a medical backboard as punishment. (Photo: WBRE screenshot) The class was taking a test that day, and the minor plaintiff, a junior, identified in the lawsuit as “N.W.," asked to use the restroom multiple times, but was denied. The boy then put his head down on his desk. Caschera reacted by having another student place smelling salts under the boy’s nose, according to the lawsuit, which noted that the student had several significant allergies and was under a 504 plan. In Pennsylvania, 504 plans provide accommodations for students with a qualifying disability to ensure they can participate in educational programs. Video Shows White Neighbor Block Black Woman’s Driveway, Trespass on Her Property After Road DisputeN.W., or Nathaniel Woods III, according to his attorney Joseph Montgomery, has ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder). "Keeping his head down during unstructured time is a strategy to emotionally regulate," Montgomery, whose practice focuses on special education matters, told Atlanta Black Star. When the boy didn’t raise his head fast enough, the teacher directed students to secure Nathaniel to a medical backboard, immobilizing him with a strap at or just below his neck. Caschera then turned the backboard 90 degrees, making it vertical. The minor was forced to stand on his toes to avoid the strap pressing on his throat and was left in this state for several minutes, the lawsuit says. He later said he had to feign coughing to get Caschera to let him down. Before allowing the boy off the backboard, Caschera allegedly asked, “Are you going to stay awake?” About a dozen students witnessed the incident, the complaint says. Nathaniel was then sent out of class for asking to use the restroom and was given a zero on the test administered that day. He was also required to serve detention for being sent out of class. Page Woods (left) and Nathaniel Woods Jr. (right) are suing the Williamsport Area School District in Pennsylvania on behalf of their son, Nathaniel Woods III (inside left), pictured next to his brother, Angelo Woods (inside right). (Photo: Woods Family) The boy went home and told his parents, Page Carol Woods and Nathaniel Woods Jr., what happened that day. They were reportedly shocked and upset, and contacted school faculty and administrators, demanding an explanation. Alicia Differ, the associate principal, was “astonished” to learn from the parents N.W.’s version of events and got Matthew Fisher, the school’s director of Career and Technical Education, involved, according to the complaint. Page Woods had several conversations and meetings with Differ and Fisher over the days that followed. Differ and Fisher spoke with Caschera about the incident, who allegedly “did not see the wrong in what he did,” the lawsuit says. Caschera also reportedly said that he was “holding N.W. to a higher standard than his peers.” N.W. apologized to Caschera, the complaint says, and on May 30, his mother told Fisher that it was only fair that Caschera also apologize to her son “for what he put him through.” Fisher indicated this was a reasonable request and directed Caschera to do so. The following Monday, Caschera told the student through an internal message that he had until 3 p.m. to take the make-up test, but then forced the student to complete the test before the end of class, the complaint says. By Tuesday morning, Caschera still had not apologized to the boy. His mother again contacted Fisher and Differ regarding the apology and the reason for moving up the make-up test. Caschera was unable to explain his reasoning for the timing of the test. In a subsequent meeting with N.W., Fisher and Caschera, Caschera allegedly told the boy, “I apologize, but, when I saw your head down, I went into scenario mode.” “The excuse that he was in ‘scenario mode’ does not mesh with his prior statement when he conditioned the student being released from confinement on a promise not to sleep in class,” the plaintiffs argue. Caschera became irate and emotional during the meeting, the lawsuit says. Both parents then met with Caschera and Fisher, who allegedly pulled them aside and asked them to remember that Caschera had only been teaching 15 to 20 days. Dr. Justin Ross, head principal, allegedly also told N.W. that he should “give the teacher a chance.” Montgomery said Caschera was "a substitute with a temporary license and should never have been allowed in a classroom." Among other deficiencies, Montgomery said, the teacher did not have a copy of Nathaniel's 504 plan, which would have informed him that the student has ADHD and requires special accommodations, including extended time for test-taking. "What that instructor gave his class that day was a lesson on bullying," Montgomery said. Caschera’s courses are currently being covered by a long-term substitute, the complaint says. The school board accepted Caschera’s resignation at a meeting on Aug. 12, reported sungazette.com. Since the incident, Montgomery said that Nathaniel's parents perceive that their son has lost his usual spark. "They are a super supportive family who spent their lives building up Nathaniel's spirit and self-esteem — spiritually, religiously, in the community, athletically," Montgomery told Atlanta Black Star. "He was just a ball of energy who has always made people smile. Since this incident, there's been a death of that spirit. He feels defeated and to blame, although he's absolutely not. He can't understand how an adult could do something like this to him, just putting him in a modern-day stockade, publicly embarrassing him in front of his entire class."Nathaniel Woods, Jr., told WBRE that his son was anxious about returning to school. “There was so much trepidation in my son. You could see the fear," he said. "You could see the anxiety, the uncertainty, the uncomfortability. You could see it in him, but he wasn’t going to say, ‘Oh, I’m scared out my mind to go back to this class.'" The lawsuit accuses all of the defendants — the school district, Caschera, Ross, Fisher, Differ, and five unnamed individuals — of unreasonable search and seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment and Pennsylvania law, arguing that the student posed no threat, and that the use of a medical backboard as a form of punishment was an excessive and disproportionate use of force. The school district maintained a practice of “processing teachers for the licensing option with the least restrictive educational requirements,” which resulted in an untrained teacher with no prior experience or credentials being allowed to teach vulnerable children unsupervised in the classroom, the complaint contends. The lawsuit also seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages against Caschera on claims of assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment. Forcibly strapping the boy to the backboard made Nathaniel think that he might be assaulted again and caused him emotional distress, fear, anxiety and other trauma that continues to this day, the lawsuit claims. Caschera’s conduct was “extreme and outrageous,” particularly in the context of a teacher-student relationship, where the teacher occupies a position of authority and trust.” The alleged unlawful seizure and assault were motivated by racial animus, the lawsuit asserts."He was the only Black male in the class, and the only student publicly humiliated," said Montgomery. The plaintiffs — Page Carol Woods, Nathaniel Woods Jr. and Nathaniel Woods III — seek a jury trial to determine compensatory and punitive damages, and to award them legal costs. They also seek a declaratory judgment from the court that the defendants violated the student's rights under the U.S. Constitution and Pennsylvania law, and that their actions constituted unlawful and excessive punishment in an educational setting. The Williamsport Area School District told reporters that it would not comment on pending litigation. The district and other defendants in the case have 21 days after being served with the lawsuit to file a response.
