August 24, 2020

George Arlotto, Ed. D.
Superintendent of Schools
Anne Arundel County Public Schools
2644 Riva Road
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
RE: Our son Bowen Levy
Dear Dr. Arlotto:
As you are very aware, our 17-year-old son, Bowen Levy, died on November 10, 2019,
after choking on a glove at Central Special five days earlier, on November 5.
One month later, on December 3, 2019, I wrote to you asking for answers. (Copy
Attached.) Why did Bowen die? What happened? How could this have happened?
In addition, more troubling: Why didn’t Bowen have the 1:1 aide that day that we were
promised? Where was the supervision on November 5? What is the school system going to do to
make sure this never happens again to anyone else’s child?
We asked for answers. We asked you not to hide behind education privacy laws. We
authorized public release of this information. As Bowen’s grieving family, we wanted and
continue to want answers. However, the community wants answers, too.
You have not responded to any of these questions. It is now almost nine months since
Bowen died, and you still have not provided any answers to the questions that any parent
deserves to know/would want – answers the community deserves to know/wants.
You offered to meet with us. We do not need a sympathy meeting. We have had enough
sympathy. We want answers.
You claimed there is an independent investigation and that we would have answers just as
soon as they concluded there investigation. Who are these investigators? Are they really
independent? Will their full results ever become public? And if there really is an independent
investigation, why haven’t they contacted us, Bowen’s parents, to understand Bowen’s condition
and the school system’s promises to us. We again implore you to please answer these questions.
You and the Board of Education have not been transparent. Because you have not
provided any answers, we have conducted our own investigation, and obtained the records from
the Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services, which conducted its own very
thorough investigation. We have obtained the records of that investigation. We are now releasing

 George Arlotto, Ed. D.
August 24, 2020
Page 2
to the public some of the critical interviews and findings in their investigation to the public and
to the elected officials, which are attached.
The DSS investigation documents Bowen’s background with the school system. He was
autistic. He had a well-documented history of Pica. This means he swallows and eats non-food
items. His Pica condition was well-known to the school system and one of the major reasons we
came to the agreement with the school system promising Bowen insisted on 1:1 full-time
supervision. Without 1:1 supervision, his life would be in danger. In fact, because he did not have
1:1 supervision – or any appropriate supervision - on November 5, he died.
The Department of Social Services investigation found Bowen died as a result of the
“system failures” at Central Special School. DSS found “there is evidence of child
maltreatment” and “child neglect” by the caregivers at the school. DSS made a formal finding of
“neglect” on the part of the school system workers:
It is the assessment of the investigator/worker that Bowen Levy died as a result of
the systemic failure at Central Special School. On November 5, 2019, Bowen choked
on a rubber glove while in his classroom at the end of the school day. He later died
due to a lack of oxygen to his brain. With well-known diagnoses of Autism and Pica,
Bowen required intensive supervision (1:1 supervision during instructional time).
It was reported to this investigator/worker that Bowen’s classroom typically has one
teacher and two teachers’ aides assigned to it and that Bowen’s 1:1 assigned staff
member would also be in the room. On November 5, 2019, his assigned 1:1 staff
member was absent, his teacher left at 12:45 p.m., and there were multiple staff who
substituted throughout the day. Per the Principal, the teacher has autonomy to
assign staff to a 1:1 coverage within the classroom and if the teacher is absent, the
teacher leaves sub plans. One staff member, [], reported that she did not review the
sub plans that day.
At the time that it was reported that someone finally noticed that he was choking,
Bowen was in a classroom with six additional students, one staff member [], and two
high school volunteers. It is the assessment of this investigator/worker that it is
more likely than not that Bowen was able to obtain and swallow the rubber glove
that ultimately led to his death due to a lack of supervision in the classroom at the
end of the day. Had the classroom been staff with two additional staff members,
rather than student volunteers who are not caregivers for the students, Bowen may
have been observed obtaining the glove and/or putting it in his mouth.
These findings have been known to the school system for a long time. You should have
released this to us, and to the public. We specifically requested and authorized you to release any
information about what happened to Bowen to the public. You should have taken responsibility
and released this information to the public. Instead, you continued to conceal this from the
public. You and the Board of Education should have been transparent and accountable for what
happened to Bowen. As parents, we should have not have been the ones to have to fight to obtain

 George Arlotto, Ed. D.
August 24, 2020
Page 3
the records and make them public.
We entrusted our child to you and you failed us. You failed Bowen. We ask that you take
public responsibility for these failures. And more importantly, we want to make sure this never
happens to another child in the school system again.
We have been told that Central Special School was not given the resources to hire a 1:1
substitute teacher that day, November 5, 2020. Bowen’s complicated full-time supervision should
never have been placed in the hands of two high school volunteers, and one staff member who
had responsibility for the entire classroom. That was profoundly unfair to those three individuals,
who have to live with this, and to Bowen and his family, who must now live without a son and a
brother.
We have made previous requests to the school system about 1:1 supervision. How many
vacancies were in 1:1 positions are in the school system in the last five years? What is the
procedure for providing 1:1 substitutes so students like Bowen do not go unsupervised? And
most importantly, why didn’t Bowen have the promised 1:1 supervision on November 5, 2019?
We have been asking these questions since Bowen died. Will you and the Board of
Education give us answers?
Sincerely,
Bryan Levy
Enclosure
cc:

County Executive Steuart Pittman, Jr.
Members of the County Council
Members of the Board of Education
Members of the Anne Arundel County Delegation