A mom in Virginia Beach, Virginia, has filed a $150 million lawsuit against a special education cooperative. Julie Xirau filed the suit against Southeastern Cooperative Educational Programs, claiming that employees mistreated her son, Joshua Sikes. That mistreatment led to Joshua, also known as Josh, causing himself harm. And that harm ultimately led to the boy’s death. His mother believes that if the employees had handled her son, who was autistic and had limited speech, differently, he might not have died.
Of course, filing a lawsuit won’t bring back her son, but it is important to hold people and organizations accountable for their actions.
Joshua Sikes was enrolled at Pembroke Elementary School, where he received services from Southeastern Cooperative Educational Program, or SECEP, in November 2024, WTKR reported. Both SECEP and four of its employees are listed in the lawsuit: Theresa Renvyle, Carole Parker, Nicole Smrz, and Katherine Wynne, who were assigned to his classroom at the time.
According to the complaint obtained by the outlet, Wynne used “unauthorized restraint devices and furniture” to confine the 11-year-old. Renvyle and Smrz allegedly worked together to construct a “makeshift prison” to restrict the boy’s movement within the classroom.
The complaint alleges that the defendants “did not want to calm” Joshua on October 31, 2024. Instead, they wanted him “to continue to feel scared, agitated, and frightened” to be able to remove him from the classroom permanently. He spent hours in that “makeshift prison” with no padding on that day and repeatedly banged his head on the floor.
“Shortly after 2 p.m. on October 31, 2024, satisfied that they had sufficiently agitated Joshua for purposes of creating a paper trail to remove Joshua from the classroom, [SECEP staff] called Joshua’s mother, Julie, and informed her that Joshua was misbehaving and needed to be picked up from school,” the complaint alleged, as reported by Law & Crime.
“I miss my mommy,” the boy allegedly cried while in confinement. “No more angry bear,” he said repeatedly. “I’m calm bear.”
Xirau picked up her son, unaware of exactly what had transpired while her son was at school. Because of Josh’s limited speech, he couldn’t tell her.
The following day, November 1, Josh was “increasingly lethargic and withdrawn,” the lawsuit claims, per WTKR. His mother and caretaker monitored the boy because there was no school. After his condition worsened on November 2, Xirau took him to the hospital.
She explained that she was unable to tell doctors exactly what had caused her son’s symptoms. At the time, she knew nothing about the head trauma he’d apparently suffered.
“Sadly, Julie was never able to take Joshua to that appointment with a pediatric neurologist, as Joshua passed away in his sleep during the early hours of Nov. 3, 2024, suffering brain death from the head trauma that happened in the classroom,” the complaint alleged.
“While this suit is about what happened to Joshua, Joshua stands for so many other children out there that don’t have the ability … to tell their parents what happened at school,” Xirau’s attorney, Matthew Moynihan, told WAVY in the hope that the lawsuit would prompt major changes. “This has no place in the provision of a public education.”
Sikes was described as a “beloved son, brother, and cherished friend” in his obituary. “Joshua was autistic, and while his journey was unique, his presence touched the hearts of all who knew him in the most special ways. His joy, kindness, and pure spirit left an indelible mark on everyone fortunate enough to share in his life.”
