Public Defender of Georgia Describes Expulsion of Child from Kindergarten due to Alleged Hyperactivity as Discrimination
On April 16, 2018, the Public Defender of Georgia addressed the kindergarten Wonderland Preschool with a recommendation concerning establishment of direct discrimination on grounds of behavior.
According to the factual circumstances of the case, the applicant's 2-year-old child was expelled from the kindergarten after the administration found that the child was hyperactive and could not work with other children in the group. The respondent explained that they had several times offered the parents to cooperate in order to help the child develop skills for communicating with other children, but they did not act in accordance with the recommendation. The respondent also said that the parents of the other children complained that the behavior of the applicant’s child was not safe for their children.
After studying the case, the Public Defender concluded that the kindergarten administration did not take all the necessary measures that could help the applicant's child integrate with other children. In addition, it is indicated in the recommendation that the expulsion of the child was based on the future fear that the parents of other children would decide their children to quit the kindergarten, which would not be financially beneficial for the respondent. Besides, without identifying the parents who complained or any footage showing the behavior of the applicant's child, the respondent could not prove that the child was indeed hyperactive. The decision on the expulsion of the 2-year-old child can hardly be justified on any legitimate grounds.
Taking into consideration the abovementioned, the Public Defender addressed the Director of the kindergarten with a recommendation to observe the principle of equality in the childcare and educational processes in the future, refrain from terminating contracts with lawful representatives of children due to their behavior or other personal characteristics and define in detail the grounds for termination of a contract with lawful representatives of children in the contract or other documents, considering the best interests of the child.
