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School district to pay boy duct-taped by bus driver

A Long Island school district will pay the 13-year-old special-needs son of an NYPD cop $15,000 after a school bus driver duct-taped his mouth shut to keep him quiet during a ride to school, The Post has learned.

Nick Tirado, now 13, claims that the unidentified driver picked him up around 8 a.m. at his Deer Park home in October 2012 and grew tired of his volume, according to papers filed in Long Island federal court.

In front of laughing and jeering classmates, the driver produced a roll of red duct tape and applied it to Tirado’s mouth, papers state.

A stunned counselor who monitors the boy was shocked to see him on campus with his mouth taped and alerted administrators.

Tirado’s infuriated mother, a veteran NYPD Queens cop, said she was devastated to hear that her son had been subjected to the humiliation — especially because he suffers from ADHD that can make him unintentionally chatty.

“My son, he already struggles with social and emotional disabilities,” Melissa Tirado told The Post. “We work with the school, and it was something we discussed with them. That day it was just, ‘How do we shut Nicholas up?'”

The family’s federal suit against the Deer Park School District — filed by attorney Vesselin Mitev — claimed that Tirado suffered extreme emotional distress because of the incident.

In addition to the $15,000 payout, the school district gave the Tirado family a full apology.

“As much as you like to think it’s a joke, you’ve got to realize it’s degrading, it’s embarrassing,” Tirado said.

The mom said her son was reluctant to press the issue because he had been allowed to ride on the regular bus as opposed to a shorter vehicle reserved for students with disabilities.

An attorney for the school district did not comment on the settlement or whether the bus driver still worked for them.