The mother of a transgender student has filed a federal lawsuit against the Blue Valley School District and a principal, alleging the district failed to provide federally-mandated protections for her transgender son from persistent bullying, harassment and slurs.
Filed on April 27 in the U.S. District Court of Kansas in Kansas City, Kansas, the suit alleges a former Leawood Middle School student faced numerous incidents of bullying and harassment at school and on social media that ultimately caused him to attempt suicide.
The district, as well as Leawood Middle Principal Chris Legleiter, are both named as defendants in the suit, which alleges the boy’s federal Title IX rights were violated. Title IX is a clause prohibiting sex-based discrimination of any kind in a federally-funded school or education program.
The suit also alleges numerous 14th Amendment violations, such as failure to train staff on how to respond to harassment and denial of equal protections.
In an email to the Johnson County Post, Blue Valley School District administrators declined to comment on the case and issued the following statement:
“As a public school district, Blue Valley takes all allegations of bullying and discrimination seriously. We are committed to providing a safe and inclusive environment for all students. The district is unable to comment specifically on any individual case or pending litigation. As the legal process unfolds, we will continue to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of all involved parties.”
While the mother is named in the lawsuit, the student is only referenced by his initials. Stephen Williams, an attorney for the mother, declined to comment on the matter when reached by the Post Wednesday. A court date for the case has not been set.
The student attended Leawood Middle in the 2021-22 school year
The lawsuit says that prior to being enrolled at Leawood Middle, the student attended an elementary school in Blue Valley, where he was diagnosed with ADHD and social anxiety, which required the district to create a 504 Plan, which lays out how school will support students with disabilities.
Before attending Leawood Middle, the student began to transition to a boy, and that was added to the boy’s 504 plan.
When the student started attending the middle school, the plan was slowly rolled out, which resulted in the student being identified by his birth name in front of the entire class during roll call, the suit says.
This caused fellow students to notice his name and identity change and to start harassing him, the mother alleges.
The student allegedly endured multiple forms of harassment
The student encountered harassment through the creation of a Snapchat group, which included homophobic messages, according to the lawsuit. While the mother showed screenshots of the harassment to school staff and asked for sensitivity training, it’s unclear if any action was taken.
The boy also experienced numerous incidents of bullying at school, including being referred to by his former name and being called homophobic slurs. In one instance, a student stood on a table during lunch and chanted homophobic slurs at him, the suit says.
The district did not investigate the mother’s complaint about the incident or assign a Title IX coordinator to address the instances of harassment, the lawsuit alleges. It did give the offending student a punishment of one day of in-school suspension.
In another incident, a student who transferred from another school because of their alleged disruptive behavior and bullying began targeting the boy in person and on social media, accusing him of being a pedophile, the suit says.
A week later, that same student continued to spread rumors about the boy being a pedophile, as well as an allegation the he was making terroristic threats. The latter rumor caused the school to be evacuated, but the mother was not notified that her son was at the center of it.
“Because the proof was solely virtual, both local police and school administrators took no responsibility and provided no plan of recourse on how to deal with the continued bullying,” the lawsuit says.
The incident caused the student to feel unsafe at school and stay home for the remainder of the semester, the lawsuit states.
After enduring that incident, the boy continued to face harassment, according to the lawsuit. Along with continued homophobic slurs being said in school at the boy, three students started a TikTok account solely for the purpose of capturing videos of him walking to and from school.
The mother complained to school administrators and the district, but it failed to provide any resources or courses of action to protect him, the lawsuit alleges.
The harassment took a toll on the student
The incidents caused a number of medical and mental health emergencies including: suicide attempts, suicidal ideations, self harm, exhaustion and a two-week stay in a mental health care facility.
Through it all, the mother said that attempts to address the bullying and work with the school on a plan to help him receive an education in line with his 504 Plan received no action from the district.
“(The mother) reported continued violations of the 504-plan to (LMS Principal Chris) Legleiter,” court documents state. “(He) only had apologies to give — acknowledging the fault and its impact on plaintiff but making no changes to further prevent academic and social issues arising in (the boy’s) care.”
After the boy attempted suicide and was placed in a mental health care facility, the only accommodations the district provided the student was offering to freeze his grades to create a pass/fail method of grading and relieve him of his remaining assignments for the school year, the lawsuit states. It did not provide him with any methods of how he could obtain the information he missed.
“With no plans to ensure safety, (the boy’s) mother, per health care recommendations,
did not take (the boy) back to LMS,” court documents stated.
The lawsuit asks for damage compensation
The boy continues to feel the effects of the bullying he faced, the lawsuit alleges.
“(The boy) continues to suffer gravely from the sexual harassment endured at LMS,” court documents stated.
The mother is seeking compensation for damages, including costs related to emotional pain and suffering, and money lost due to treatment for the bullying and harassment.
Trans students’ rights are a point of political tension
The recognition and protection of transgender students’ rights in schools has become a topic of fierce political debate in the U.S., including fights over the use of students’ preferred pronouns and which bathrooms they are allowed to use.
Earlier this week, nine Republican-led states and some conservative advocacy groups sued the Biden administration over new rules that bar schools and colleges that receive federal funds from discriminating against students based on their gender identity.
The administration’s rules clarify that Title IX of the landmark 1972 education law barring sex-based discrimination in education facilities includes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The lawsuits filed by Louisiana and Texas and several other states and conservative-leaning groups, argued that the rules broadening Title IX protections to cover gender identity were government overreach.
One suit also argued that the rules would compel school officials to use students’ preferred pronouns, potentially violating free speech rights, and that teachers and administrators could face punishment for misgendering students.
