Lawsuit claiming JCPS special education student was bullied is settled

Students board JCPS school buses at Western High School on Wednesday afternoon. March 16, 2022
Students board JCPS school buses at Western High School on Wednesday afternoon. March 16, 2022

A lawsuit claiming Jefferson County Public Schools officials did not do enough to protect a special education student at Western High School from bullying has been settled.

The mother of "J.A.," who was a freshman at Western during the 2018-19 school year, claimed in the lawsuit her son was "robbed" of his right to an adequate education due to bullying from another student who was a senior.

The 2019 suit initially named as defendants several Western administrators — then-Principal Michael Newman, who now leads duPont Manual High School; current Principal Anthony Sieg, who was the school's service academy leader; and then-Freshman Academy Principal Brian Raho — along with the student's special education teacher, Victory Gentry, the Jefferson County Board of Education and Superintendent Marty Pollio.

But after claiming official immunity, all of the defendants but Gentry were dismissed from the case.

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Kenneth Henry, the attorney who represented J.A. and his mother, said the terms of the agreement are confidential.

"I can say the settlement was just and fair," Henry told The Courier Journal in an email Monday night.

Attorney Mark Fenzel, who represented the defendants, said he had no additional comment.

The Courier Journal later obtained a copy of the settlement agreement through an open records request to JCPS. It showed the student and his attorney received $8,000.

Jefferson Circuit Judge Annie O'Connell signed an order Monday dismissing the case due to the settlement, per online court records.

Claims made in a lawsuit represent one side of a case.

J.A. has cerebral palsy and suffers from epilepsy, among other conditions, the lawsuit said.

In January 2019, J.A. told his mother about another student who was teasing and "messing with him," according to the lawsuit.

The same student, who was described in court documents as also having "cognitive disabilities," allegedly assaulted J.A. by grabbing his "private parts," and J.A.'s mother reported the incident to a school official, according to the suit.

The bullying continued for months, with J.A. getting pinned down in one case and tripped in the hallway and losing two teeth in another, according to the lawsuit.

In May 2019, the older student attacked and injured J.A. "to the extent that he suffered a seizure and had to be taken to the emergency room for treatment," the suit alleged. Later that month, J.A. was acting out after going to Newman's office and had to be restrained, according to depositions.

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School officials called Shively Police to take J.A. to Norton Women's and Children's Hospital for a mental evaluation, and the lawsuit said the boy "suffered so greatly from this constant torture" he was later admitted to UofL Health - Peace Hospital, which offers psychiatric care.

J.A.'s mother reported each bullying incident to school officials, according to the lawsuit, with Newman moving J.A. to a different classroom in hopes of separating the two students. But J.A.'s mother claimed the bullying did not stop, accusing officials of negligent supervision and of failing to follow JCPS policy on reporting bullying and harassment.

However, in depositions, the Western administrators and Gentry testified they reported and investigated each complaint.

This story has been updated.

Reach Billy Kobin at bkobin@courierjournal.com

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Lawsuit against Western High School, JCPS over bullying settled