8 THE QUEENS COURIER • JULY 29, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Astoria man sues DOE, claiming son faced bullying
BY JULIA MORO
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
An Astoria man fi led a lawsuit on behalf
of his son, who he claims was bullied for
his sexuality while school administrators
allegedly did nothing to help. Now, he is
looking to spread the word to make sure
this experience doesn’t happen to someone
else.
Jason Cianciotto fi led a lawsuit against
the New York City Department of
Education (DOE) and others in June,
claiming the school failed to protect his
son from gender-based discrimination.
Cianciotto’s son, identifi ed as D.S.
in court documents, started attending
Intermediate School 126 (I.S. 126Q) in
Long Island City in 2017. D.S. came out
as gay to his classmates that school year,
and Cianciotto said things turned horrible
very soon aft er.
“He immediately started being teased
and ostracized,” Cianciotto said. “He was
called names like ‘f—–,’ and the kids
started saying things about me and my
husband.”
Students ridiculed D.S. for “acting like
a girl,” and was told he would be “damned
to hell by God,” according to the lawsuit
fi led by Cianciotto. Th e court documents
claim Cianciotto and his husband begged
the defendants for help over the course of
two years.
Th e lawsuit asserts the following: “Th e
defendants accused him of fabricating
the harassment, blamed him for bringing
the bullying on himself by being
open about his sexuality and excused
his bullies’ pronouncements that LGBT
people are destined to burn in hell as
a mere ‘diff erence of opinion’ that D.S.
should learn to respect.”
Th e defendant list includes the DOE,
the Board of Education of the city of
New York and individual administrators.
Eventually, aft er years of bullying,
a hearing under the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act found that
the defendant’s failure to take action
impeded his ability to learn.
Th e court documents include the hearing
offi cer’s statement: “Not only did the
school fail to address the bullying, but
the sixth-grade dean of the school went
so far as to blame the student for making
himself a target of the bullying … . I am
at a loss to understand how an educational
professional could possibly blame
a child for being the victim of a prolonged
and severe pattern of emotional
and physical bullying.”
Aft er this hearing, the DOE was
ordered to provide tutoring and trauma
therapy to D.S.
“We were shocked. Living in New
York City, we see this city and our state
as a place that is a leader in progressive
support for the LGBTQ community,”
Cianciotto said. “Of all the things we
were worried about, we were the least
worried about the fact that he would be
an out gay student in a New York City
school. Th at presumption just turned
out to be tragically wrong.”
Cianciotto said that before adopting
D.S. in 2017, he and his husband
knew he was non-conforming to gender
roles based on his interests. Th e couple
thought they could provide a supportive
and safe environment for D.S. aft er
going through so much with the foster
care system.
D.S. had also been diagnosed with a
malignant brain tumor and had surgery
to remove it just months before meeting
Cianciotto. Now, there are no signs
of cancer.
“One of the most amazing memories
I have was when he walked into our
apartment for the fi rst time and starting
jumping up and down, saying, ‘I’m
home!,’ He’s such an integral part of our
family,” Cianciotto said.
As D.S. continued to suff er from bullying,
he struggled with his mental health.
Cianciotto said that he and his husband
worked hard to help D.S. feel safe and
comfortable aft er years of trauma in the
foster care system. However, once he
dealt with relentless bullying, he started
intentionally hurting himself and threatening
suicide.
“Hearing your child say, ‘Th ey won’t
stop bullying me. I want to kill myself,’
it’s just so terrible,” Cianciotto said. “We
were so afraid if our son continued to
stay in that school that his life would be
threatened.”
Cianciotto claims that administrators
said they could not fi nd a class for D.S.
where he wouldn’t be bullied. Aft er that,
Cianciotto and his husband pulled D.S.
out of I.S. 126Q and transferred him
Photo courtesy of Cianciotto
to Hunter’s Point Community Middle
School.
“It was like night and day,” Cianciotto
said. “We realized just how important
the principal and administration are in
creating a safe space. Th ere were and are
tools available to respond and prevent
bullying from happening.”
Katie O’Hanlon, a DOE spokeswoman,
said the allegations are troubling and
there is zero tolerance for bullying of any
kind in their schools.
“Every student deserves to feel safe,
welcomed and affi rmed in their school,
and we have invested in trainings and
support to reform classroom culture,
with a focus on inclusive policies and
eff ective strategies to prevent bullying,”
O’Hanlon said. “Th e safety of our students
is our number one priority, and we
will review the complaint and immediately
investigate the claims.”
D.S. just turned 15, and while Cianciotto
said his son is doing much better, he still
seeks justice for what his son endured.
Jason Cianciotto and his son, D.S.
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