VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Virginia Beach mom is taking action against St. John the Apostle Catholic School after her son was suspended for reporting another student bringing a bullet into school.
Attorney Timothy Anderson is representing parent Rachel Wigand.
“There’s nothing in the handbook that specifically tells the parent or the child if you don’t do this, we will do this,” said Anderson.
According to the lawsuit, despite nothing being written in the school’s student-parent handbook, the student faced an out-of-school suspension, which the lawsuit contends is part of the student’s permanent academic record.
Now, the parent is suing for a total of $4,870.00, the price of tuition. The lawsuit also questions safety at the school and how a bullet could make it past the school’s entrance.
“The school security of whether a threat comes in should not be dependent on an 11-year-old reporting it. They can have metal detectors. They could have people checking bags, but the school doesn’t do that. They push all that to the 11-year-old,” said Anderson.
But Anderson said his client is willing to throw out the lawsuit if the school issues an apology.
“All they have to do is reverse the suspension to remove that from the academic record and secondly just apologize. We’re wrong. Sometimes adults can be wrong, and that’s a good lesson for children to see. We were wrong. You did the right thing. Anyone who says otherwise is incorrect,” said Anderson.
The Catholic Diocese of Richmond released a statement regarding the lawsuit.
“Nothing is more important to our school leaders than making sure our communities are protected, and our school’s policies, practices, and, yes, disciplinary decisions, all seek to make us more safe. Our disciplinary practices are designed to be constructive learning opportunities, not punitive or permanent punishments. We expect our students to learn from discipline, but disciplinary decisions do not remain on a student's permanent academic record.
We are confident the school's decision complied with both legal and our internal standards, and we stand behind the Saint John the Apostle School administrators.”