Late Notice of Claim Filed by Parents of Allegedly Abused Disabled Long Beach Students Granted

LONG BEACH, NY - The late notice of claim filed by the parents of five Long Beach Middle School students who were allegedly physically and mentally abused by a special education teacher was granted on Tuesday.

The petition for the late notice of claim was filed in April by attorney Gerard Misk at Ginsburg and Misk based in Queens to the Supreme Court on behalf of the parents against Long Beach Public Schools.

The students, who were between 14 and 18 years old with severe disabilities including Autism and Down Syndrome leaving them all unable to communicate verbally, all allegedly endured abuse by teacher Lisa Weitzman.

The petition also claims that the employees and staff at the Long Beach School, as well as the school district's attorney, "had actual notice of the incidents and injuries being alleged."

Back in March, the school district held a hearing, which Weitzman requested be public, where she claimed her innocence and denied all allegations.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Parga approved the motion stating that the late notice was "excusable" because of the fact that the petitioners suffered from mental disabilities which affected their ability to communicate and the parents could not have known about the abuse until the allegations came to light, according to the notice.

In April, the Superintendent of Schools David Weiss said in a statement that the Long Beach School District "has complied, and will continue to comply, with all federal and state legal requirements regarding complaints to the District about possible abuse or mistreatment of our students."

According to Misk, the next step would be to wait 90 days to see if the district would want to settle with the families before going to court. In this time, the district would have to opportunity to take sworn testimony from the parents if they choose to.

The five families named in the notice of claim are seeking $5 million each.