i saw this on the news this morning. i guess the best thing the parents can do is get it into the news and get public opinion on their side. have heard and seen loads of stories of school districts sweeping things under the rug so the whole thing does not surprise me. feel sorry for those little children whose lives have been changed forever. hope the parents win a lot of money from the district, money is the only thing they listen to.
This story is from MSN.Com, see below, it sates that the school is NOT responsible to protect our kids from assualts by other students. I can't believe this:
ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Teachers and administrators at
But instead of calling police and removing F.H., district officials covered up the attack and allowed him to remain in class, leading to the sexual assault of three more first-graders, parents say.
The allegations, contained in a million federal lawsuit against the
“I’m disgusted,” said Yolanda Colbert, 36, whose three children attend
The district denies wrongdoing and has asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit. But it has not disputed that assaults occurred, and its legal response has only further inflamed public opinion in one of the state’s poorest school districts.
In federal court last month, the district’s lawyer, John Freund III, argued that under the Constitution school officials cannot be held responsible simply for failing to protect youngsters from assaults by other students.
He cited federal court rulings that say school systems are generally immune from paying damages unless it can be shown that they actually took “affirmative” steps that put youngsters in danger, and that the action taken “shocks the conscience.”
Freund said in an interview that he was making a narrow legal argument, not a generalized statement about the district’s responsibility to its youngsters. Various state and federal laws, not to mention “basic morality, common sense and professional duty ... clearly obligate schools to protect students,” he said.
But his argument rankled parents.
‘Affirmative’ act of endangerment?
“I understand there is a civil case, but it still makes me very uncomfortable that a school district would stand up and say under any circumstance, ‘We don’t have to protect our children,’ ” said Emily Mebust, the parent of a kindergartner.
A judge has yet to rule on the school system’s request for a dismissal. No trial date has been set.
The lawsuit, filed by the parents of three of the alleged victims, said school system officials concealed the assaults “in an effort to veil the long-standing violence” in certain
The assaults began in December 2003, a few months after F.H., a special-education student with a history of behavioral problems, was transferred to Central Elementary from another school in the district, according to court papers.
After learning of the first assault from a second-grader who witnessed part of it, administrators kept quiet and allowed F.H. to remain in school, the lawsuit said. The 12-year-old sexually assaulted three more first-graders over the next four months, according to the parents.
The final assault, for which F.H. was found guilty in juvenile court of rape and sent to a detention center until he turns 18, took place after he was put on “hallway detention” — out of view of any teacher and next to a bathroom used by first-graders, the lawsuit said. That is a key point in the plaintiffs’ case.
‘Lion into the lambs’ lair’
Scott Wilhelm, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, said putting F.H. next to a bathroom was an “affirmative” act.
One legal scholar agreed.
“You have reason to believe that this lion is mauling the lambs, so you move the lion into the lambs’ lair?” said Perry Zirkel, an education law professor at
Nevertheless, Zirkel said the plaintiffs still have little chance of winning because the courts have set such a high bar for such claims.
And Freund said the lawsuit overstated the extent to which teachers and administrators were aware of the attacks. “Everyone, to our knowledge, acted as they should have acted,” he said.
But the parents of the fourth victim said the district has shown little regard for their son. Nobody from the district has contacted them since his rape, they said in an interview.
“It’s a constant slap in the face,” said the boy’s mother, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect her son’s privacy. “They still will not accept any responsibility. They will not accept any accountability.”