Students with Emotional Disabilities: Facts About This Vulnerable Population
March 19, 2018
By: Christina A. Samuels
Source: Education Week
The academic past of Nikolas Cruz, the accused mass shooter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., was littered with red flags suggesting serious emotional problems.
News outlets that have reviewed Cruz’s disciplinary records and interviewed his teachers paint a picture of a young man prone to violent outbursts and fascinated with weapons. In high school, he spent time in a Broward County public school that specializes in serving students with emotional and behavioral disabilities. The Associated Press has reported that a high school resource officer who was also a sheriff’s deputy and two school counselors recommended in September 2016 that Cruz be committed for mental evaluation under Florida’s Baker Act. That law allows for involuntary commitment for mental health examination for at least three days.
The intense focus on Cruz’s mental health history in the wake of the Feb. 14 school massacre has worried some of those who work directly with students who have mental health needs, such as those receiving special education for an “emotional disturbance,” the official term used in federal special education law.