Papago plans rile neighbors / P. 14
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
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NEWS .................................11 Scottsdale mom, 5-year-old son killed.
Longtime volunteer succumbs to cancer / P. 4
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Sunday, December 16, 2018
Couple sues SUSD over autistic son’s mistreatment BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Progress Managing Editor
A
Scottsdale family is suing Scottsdale Unified School District, alleging that its failure to properly train special education teachers and staff at Desert Mountain High School resulted in abusive uses of force against their autistic son. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in May, John and Mary McCarthy also allege that staff, administrators and district leadership failed to contact them in a timely manner that force was used to restrain their son, who has non-
verbal autism. The lawsuit, which is ongoing, details a litany of alleged failures that the McCarthys claim caused severe harm to their son, who is now 18. Mary McCarthy said her son suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from his experiences and currently sees a psychiatrist. A district spokeswoman declined comment, citing SUSD’s policy against commenting on pending litigation. In a response filed in federal court, the district denied the charges – which include civil and constitutional rights violations, assault and negligence against several current and
former district employees. However, official district documents obtained by the McCarthy family appear to support some of their claims and contradict some of the district’s statements in federal court.
CPI holds and use of force
The McCarthys alleged in their federal complaint that teachers or staff at Desert Mountain used what the district termed “CPI holds” to restrain their son during outbursts even though they were not trained in those holds. CPI, or the Crisis Preven- see MCCARTHY page 8
2018 election’s biggest surprise: bipartisan win BUSINESS ..................... 28 Scottsdale exec at helm of bowl game.
ARTS................................. 33 Artist Charles Russell's women in new exhibit.
NEIGHBORS .........................19 BUSINESS .............................28 OPINION ..............................30 SPORTS ................................ 32 ARTS .................................... 33 FOOD & DRINK................... 35 CLASSIFIEDS .......................38
BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Progress Managing Editor
T
he 2018 General Election in Scottsdale was full of surprises – from the overwhelming Proposition 420 victory to staggering voter turnout – but the biggest surprise might have been the bipartisan cooperation shown by the two leading vote getters in the City Council election. Incumbent Republican Kathy Littlefield and Democratic challenger Solange Whitehead took the top two out of three spots on the City Council ballot, garnering 26 percent and 22 percent of the vote, respectively. Littlefield’s 56,829 votes were the most by any council candidate in the city’s history. Whitehead’s election was even more improbable as Republican voters outnumber Democrats in Scottsdale 71,393 to 41,225, according to the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office’s active voter totals. Council elections in Scottsdale are officially non-partisan, though Littlefield and White-
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head’s affiliations were well known by the time Election Day rolled around. Though they hail from opposite parties, Littlefield and Whitehead campaigned side by side for much of the election. That kind of collaboration is rare, even for candidates from the same side of the aisle, Littlefield said. “In a cattle-call election like this was, you
don’t run in partnership. You run on your own,” Littlefield said. The situation is even less likely considering the partisan nature of contemporary politics. A Pew Research Center survey from 2017 showed that the partisan gap between Americans of opposing parties is larger than ever.
see BIPARTISAN page 6
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