Are Des Moines schools intervening to prevent bullying and fighting? Two lawsuits say no
When Raven Lee got a call from a staff member at Phillips Elementary School that her son was injured, she was told there was no need to rush to pick him up.
On Oct. 20, 2021, Lee made the 30-minute drive from her job to the Des Moines school and took him to urgent care, she told the Des Moines Register. When picking up her son, school officials told her they were not sure what happened, but that her son, then in second grade, was sleepy.
Hours later, doctors told Lee her son had suffered a lacerated kidney, a hematoma and a collapsed lung, among other injuries. Over time, she pieced together that her son had been the victim of bullying — again — and shoved into some playground steps by a student, she said.
"He could not speak and he used his elbows to crawl to them (playground attendees) from the playground," Lee said. "And he was just gasping for air, and it's because he had a collapsed lung. But they didn't tell me any of that. It was just nonchalant, you know?"
Those accusations of bullying and of school officials' alleged failure to prevent a student from repeatedly preying on her son are at the center of a lawsuit filed in September by his parents, Lee and Robert Gullion.
It is one of two filed in recent months against Iowa's largest and most diverse school district that accuses staff of failing to protect children despite documented warning signs. Both suits accuse the district of negligence in failing to keep their children safe.
During the 2018-19 school year, Des Moines Public Schools had 43 founded cases of bullying, according to the Iowa Department of Education. During the 2019-20 school year, that rose to 50 before dropping to 10 in 2020-21 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
District leaders declined to comment on the lawsuits but pointed toward district policies and handbooks defining and prohibiting bullying.
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School officials did not prevent bullying by student, lawsuit says
Lee and Gullion say in their complaint that their son, identified in court filings by his initials, was at recess on Oct. 20, 2021, when he was pushed from behind by another student and fell on the playground stairs, suffering serious abdominal trauma.
This wasn't the first time the other student had bullied their son, according to the complaint, nor the first time their son had been injured as a result, including an altercation resulting in a chipped tooth. But despite knowing the bully's history, according to the complaint, "the school failed to take any action to prevent his behavior."
"He would have incidents at the playground where he would hit his head on something and come home with a big bruise, and I would never get incident reports no matter what happened," Lee said, adding that her son always named the same student when asked who hurt him.
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Lee and Gullion also say the school had adopted new rules after previous bullying by the other student that, if enforced, might have prevented the playground incident, but the school failed to apply the new rules and let the bullying continue. The complaint does not explain what the new rules entailed, and in court filings, the district has denied this claim.
In language echoing almost verbatim the district's anti-bullying policies, the complaint alleges that the bullying created an "objectively hostile school environment," instilling fear in Lee's son, was detrimental to his physical and mental health, and interfered with his academic performance and ability to participate in school services and activities.
The district, in court filings, has denied Lee and Gullion's claims and argues it is immune from suit under protections contained in multiple state statutes.
Lawsuit filed after student is stabbed outside Hoover High
A second lawsuit, filed just days earlier, involved a March 29, 2022, stabbing outside Hoover High School.
Plaintiff Cherrise Brown alleges that despite knowing two other students wanted to fight with her daughter that day, school employees did nothing to prevent it or keep the students separated. The two other students later approached her daughter in the school parking lot, a fight ensued, and one of the students stabbed her daughter in the abdomen, according to the lawsuit.
The district has not filed a response to Brown's lawsuit. Attorney Samuel Aden, representing Brown, declined to comment but said he expects to file an amended petition in the case soon.
Related: Student cut with knife during fight at Hoover High School
Students often feel like their 'voices aren't heard,' advocate says
When dealing with a child who is being bullied, it is important for educators and staff to listen to the student, experts say.
"Oftentimes, students feel like their voices aren't heard with their experiences," said Becky Tayler, executive director of Iowa Safe Schools, "and so making sure that students feel like the adult that they're talking to is truly hearing what they're saying, and is recognizing and affirming how that student feels."
Much of Iowa Safe Schools' work focuses on supporting and providing resources to LGBTQ youth, educators and administrators.
One of the most important steps educators and school staff can take to combat bullying is building relationships with their students.
"It really goes into embracing social-emotional learning, as well, just as a core concept, recognizing that our students are whole human beings," Tayler said. "They aren't simply a student who is in our classrooms or in our hallways or in our buildings, and then they have no other identity outside of being the student in my class."
Social-emotional learning refers to lessons created to help students build life skills and learn how to problem solve and regulate behavior.
Mother was told student who bullied her son was not at fault
On the day of the incident, her son had to army crawl across the playground to reach an adult, Lee told the Register. School staff told Lee they were not sure what happened to her son.
Lee eventually learned that the other student had wanted to play tag with her son and another classmate. She was told the boy and his friend said they did not want to play, and the student got angry and pushed Lee's son into the stairs of some playground equipment.
The other child — who Lee says no longer attends the school — had periodically bullied her son during the first few months of the school year, Lee said. One incident ended with her son coming home with a chipped tooth. But Lee says no one told her about it until she reached out to the teacher.
Because of right to privacy rules for students, Lee knows little about what, if any, punishment was imposed.
“I said, ‘Is this kid going to get in trouble? Are his parents aware and stuff?'” she recounted asking his teacher when she said her son was bullied previously. “She said that he has issues controlling his body. So, that basically … he shouldn't be responsible for (his actions) because he doesn't know how to control his body.”
She remains angry that school officials did not call an ambulance for her son or tell her how serious the situation was.
After his week-long hospital stay, her son spent several months recovering at home and attending school online. Once he returned to school, teachers and staff were tasked with not letting him run around or exert himself too much, including sitting out of gym class.
It is unclear what long-term issues Lee's son may face from the collapsed lung and injured kidney. A doctor told Lee her son should never drink alcohol because of the kidney damage.
She hopes the lawsuit will help ensure no one else has to go through what her son did and that officials will keep parents better informed if there is a problem at school.
Two years later, Lee has watched her son change from a child who loved roller skating, running club and jiu jitsu to one who does not want to leave his room and tires easily after short walks.
"It just seems like he doesn't feel comfortable leaving the house anymore," Lee said.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines schools failed to prevent bullying, stabbing, lawsuits say
