Parents sue Leonia school district, board, middle school, vice principal, citing bullying

The Leonia public school district, the middle school, a vice principal and the Board of Education are facing accusations of creating a hostile school environment for two children.

Two Leonia parents filed a lawsuit against the district, Leonia Middle School, Vice Principal Aprel King and the board in state Superior Court on Jan. 3.

According to the lawsuit, one of their children was mocked by several other students for his "physical characteristics, perceived sexual orientation and mental and physical disabilities." The lawsuit said one of those students falsely accused the child of masturbating in the middle school bathroom.

Superintendent Brian Gatens said the district could not comment on "current legal matters."

The suit accused the middle school's supervisory staff of being aware of the incidents but failing to do anything about them. The lawsuit said the continued bullying "culminated in a particularly hostile and vulgar" incident in January 2022.

The parents said King instructed another student to go into the boys' bathroom to see what was happening inside, calling the request "outrageous, grossly negligent and inappropriate." The lawsuit said the student took video footage of the student using the bathroom.

That student sent it to another student, who posted the video to social media, "causing emotional harm" to the siblings, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit said the district, the middle school, King and the Board of Education were negligent and grossly negligent in their duties by failing to "educate, supervise and control" the students and in their hiring and supervision. The suit said the defendants violated the state's anti-bullying law by allowing harassment, intimidation and bullying that caused "severe and permanent emotional, psychological and psychiatric injuries," in addition to violating the state's law against discrimination.

The parents are seeking several monetary damages for the harm they believe was caused to their children, saying the family has suffered "emotional, psychological and personal distress."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Leonia school district, middle school sued over bullying claim