Inside was a photocopy of the top of the front page of The Buffalo News for Nov. 25, dominated by a story about a woman's decision to have an abortion rather than give birth to a child who was likely to be severely disabled.

For Kramer and her husband, Ed, who have been involved in a lawsuit with the Springville School District about their son, Jonathan's, educational programs, the message was clear.

"Obviously the implication was that we should have aborted him," said Ed Kramer. "It was way, way out of line."

The school district says that it investigated the Kramers' complaint and found that the boy had been excited about a photograph of Buffalo Bills football players in the upper right-hand corner of the page and had wanted to take it home.

One of the school secretaries copied the picture for him, Denise O'Donnell, the Hodgson Russ attorney handling the case for Springville, told the Kramers in a letter.

"It is regrettable that finding the article in Jonathan's backpack created the wrong impression to Jonathan's parents that someone was intending to threaten or show hostility toward Johnathan or his family," she said. "That was certainly not the case."

Whatever the truth, the reactions are telling of how acrimonious relations have become between parents of special-education students and the district.

For the Kramers, who have had disputes with the Springville district about their son's education since he began school four years ago, the conclusions were clear, particularly since the copy reduced the original in size to fit the entire width of the page onto the sheet.

"This is one of these things you do when somebody sues you," said Ed Kramer. "They think it's about the money. But it's not.

"But I don't question anything they do anymore. After a while you get immune to it, but this was pretty low."

The Kramers are seeking an injunction and $5.5 million in damages from Springville and New York State in federal court, alleging the district and state have failed to follow rulings from impartial hearing officers.

Springville School Superintendent Thomas Markle said the district received the Kramers' complaint, investigated and responded.

"There was absolutely no malice or ill intention involved," he said.

"People can put a twist on things that serve their interests, or they can misinterpret something that was said and take it out of context," he said.

e-mail: eploetz@buffnews.com