By
The Associated Press
BRANCHBURG, N.J. - A 12-year-old girl with impaired hearing was ordered to stop using sign language on her school bus because administrators said it was creating a safety problem.
Danica Lesko's parents said they are filing a complaint with the state education department.
The Leskos have already sued over an incident they said caused the girl's hearing damage, when another student set off a bottle rocket in a hallway in November.
Stony Brook School Principal J. Harry Westerholm told the couple in a letter March 30 that the girl would be suspended for three days if she did not stop signing.
"Sign language, or any behavior, is not permitted if it is going to cause a disturbance on the bus," Westerholm said Tuesday.
He said Danica was the only student reprimanded because she was the only one who refused to stop signing.
Westerholm said he could not describe how using sign language could cause a disturbance and referred the question to the district's transportation office, which would not comment on the matter.
The Leskos said they may sue over the ban. "It's absurd," Mary Ann Lesko told The Star-Ledger of Newark for yesterday's editions.
