A Coeur d'Alene father has pulled his developmentally disabled son out of school after an incident where the boy was injured, and says the child will stay home unless the school provides him with a different personal aide in class.

"The brass tacks of it is we need to feel comfortable that our son is safe within their school district," said Jeff Parrett.

Fernan Elementary informed Jeff's wife Stacey last Monday that their 9-year-old son Kameryn, who has brain development issues and is required to have a personal aide assisting him in class, had hit his head on his desk and required stitches.

Jeff said the couple was told the accident occurred when Kameryn's personal aide, a school staff member, was turned away from their son.

That has the father worried.

"We've seen some issues arise in the past, (Kameryn) has come home a couple other times with knots on his head, but this is the worst," Jeff said, noting that the boy needed stitches on the bridge of his nose and that one of his eyes had been swollen shut.

He pointed out that his son is disabled to the point he cannot speak or use sign language. The boy will become physically aggressive to communicate his needs, Jeff said, especially if he is hungry or thirsty. He also has random seizures.

Based on his son's accidents, Jeff said he believes the aide assigned to Kameryn doesn't have the specific training to deal with such situations.

"You need to be able to understand the signs of my son, that when he's thirsty, he gets fussy, he starts shaking his head," he said. "If you don't have the specialized training to identify what he's trying to tell you, he's going to appear to be combative."

Jeff is also worried the aide is not fully invested in Kameryn's care, as he was not with Kameryn when his wife picked the boy up to get his stitches.

"We feel it's strange that aid was not in the office when she came down," he said. "You would've been down there, saying, 'I would've been there, I'm sorry about that, if there's anything I can do, let me know.'"

Jeff said he was told by the principal last week that his wish for a new aide would be passed on to the special education director.

That's not a good enough response for Jeff, who has kept Kameryn home since last Monday.

He has other concerns about the school, he said, like that the school's occupational therapist also is not properly equipped to handle a child with Kameryn's specific condition.

He hopes that if he can prove the school isn't adequately equipped to educate his son, that he can arrange for the school to provide Kameryn with a specialist to teach the boy at home, or fund the boy's education at a different school district.

"If that does require the assistance of legal action, we would definitely entertain that," he said.

Laura Rumpler, Coeur d'Alene School District spokeswoman, stated that federal law prevents the school district from discussing the details of the situation.

But she said district and school staff responded immediately in caring for the child and communicating with the parents to expedite medical treatment for the boy.

When an accident involving a special education student occurs at school, Rumpler added, staff creates an accident report and thoroughly investigates to see if additional safety measures are needed.

"In this case, our staff has been very responsive, including telephoning the parents into the evening to see how the child is doing," she wrote in an email.

She stated that Kameryn's Individualized Education Program team, which includes a teacher, a special ed specialist, a nurse, the principal, physical therapist and Kameryn's parents, have been working to address the parents' request.

They are scheduled to meet with the parents today on the issue.

"If after any student-involved accident, negligence were to be found, our district has a solid history of taking disciplinary action," she wrote. "We take the safety of all our students extremely seriously."

The Coeur d'Alene School District has 140 classified aides, according to Rumpler, all para professionals including certified nursing assistants, therapists and intensive behavioral specialists.

Fernan Elementary has 23 staff in aide positions. Their backgrounds range from 2 to 4-year degrees, including specialty certifications and certified nursing assistants.

Aides also go through on-the-job training, professional development, training by the district's special education coaches and they work under the direct supervision of a certified teacher.

Placement of each aide varies, Rumpler stated, based on needs of the classroom and students.

When the parent of a special education student requests new staff assigned to their child, she added, the IEP team discusses the request with the parents, and considers "what is in the best interest of the child for both safety and educational purposes."

Jeff said his priority is ensuring the district is doing everything it can to properly educate Kameryn.

"If my son continues within their school district, I want to have a sense of safety and well being for our son," he said.

Frances Huffman, director of special services, did not speak with The Press for this article. Questions for Huffman were given to Rumpler by phone, who relayed them to Huffman. Rumpler relayed those answers to The Press.