Tc v. Valley Cent. Sch. Dist.
| Decision Date | 30 March 2011 |
| Docket Number | No. 7:09–cv–9036 (WWE).,7:09–cv–9036 (WWE). |
| Citation | 270 Ed. Law Rep. 106,777 F.Supp.2d 577 |
| Parties | TC and KC, individually and as parents of DC, Plaintiffs,v.VALLEY CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT; Valley Central School District Board of Education; Richard M. Hooley, Individually and as Superintendent of the Valley Central School District; Joanne Avella, individually and as former Principal of Valley Central High School; Dr. Debra M. Lynker, individually and as former Interim Principal of Valley Central High School; Thomas Balducci, individually and as Vice Principal of Valley Central High School; Joseph DiMaio, individually and Vice Principal of Valley Central High School; Brian Giudice, individually and former Vice Principal of Valley Central High School; Glenn Taylor, individually and as Guidance Counselor of Valley Central High School; Major Robert “BOB” Bouldin, individually and as Senior Army Instructor of Valley Central JROTC; Sergeant Patrick T. Wimmer, Individually and as Army Instructor of Valley Central ROTC; and Unknown Students 1–100; Unknown Teachers 1–100; Unknown Administrators 1–100; Unknown Lunch Aides 1–100, the exact names and identities of whom are not presently known, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Giulia Frasca, Peter David Hoffman, Law Office of Peter D. Hoffman, PC, Katonah, NY, for Plaintiffs.Adam I. Kleinberg, Leo Dorfman, Sokoloff Stern LLP, Westbury, NY, for Defendants.
Plaintiffs TC and KC, individually and as parents of DC, bring this action stemming from their son's experiences at Valley Central High School. Defendants have filed two motions to dismiss, one by defendant Avella (Doc. # 30) and one by the remaining defendants (Doc. # 27). In their response, plaintiffs included a request to amend their complaint, submitting the proposed amended complaint as an exhibit. For the following reasons, the motions to dismiss will be granted in part, and the motion to amend the complaint will be granted to the extent that the amendments will not be futile.
The Court has jurisdiction over plaintiffs' claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 as to plaintiffs' federal law claims and 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a) as to plaintiffs' state law claims.
On a motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), the Court accepts all allegations of the amended complaint as true.
DC is a minor and a resident of Walden, New York. He was born on October 10, 1991 and turned eighteen years old on October 10, 2009.1 TC and KC are DC's father and mother, respectively. At all times relevant to this action, he was enrolled at the Valley Central High School. DC was diagnosed with severe ADHD at age 5 and has been on a Rehabilitation Act 504 Plan since seventh grade. His grades and behavior are indicative of a student who has difficulties due to his disability.
Defendant Valley Central School District (“School District” or “VCSD”) is the local school district. Defendant Richard M. Hooley is VCSD's Superintendent of Schools. Defendant Joanna Avella was formerly the principal of Valley Central High School (“VCHS”). Defendant Dr. Debra M. Lynker was formerly Interim Principal of VCHS. Defendants Thomas Balducci and Joseph DiMaio are Vice Principals of VCHS. Defendant Brian Giudice was formerly Vice Principal of VCHS. Defendant Glenn Taylor is a guidance counselor at VCHS. Defendant Major Robert Bouldin is a Senior Army Instructor and defendant Sergeant Patrick T. Wimmer is an Army Instructor of Valley Central JROTC located within VCHS.
In May 2008, DC was reprimanded by Major Bouldin for reading Mein Kampf. DC was reading the book because of his interest in military affairs and for a class that he was taking on military history. Vice Principal Giudice had the lock on DC's locker cut without DC's knowledge because he suspected that DC had drawings of German military symbols in his locker. Nothing was found, and there was no write-up of these events placed in DC's record.
In response, plaintiffs had a meeting with Giudice and Bouldin to ask why Giudice had not asked DC to open his locker. At this meeting, TC placed the School District on notice that he believed that it was wrongfully discriminating against DC, harassing him and violating his First Amendment rights. TC told Giudice and Bouldin that it was DC's parents' role to monitor what their son was reading, not the school's. TC pointed out that DC got the book from the school library, not from home.
On October 28, 2008, DC was confronted by a minority student DS in an aggressive, unprovoked manner in the cafeteria during his eighth period lunch. While going to his next class, DC was confronted by several minority students, including DS and WB, acting in an aggressive manner. They called DC “whiteboy,” “cracker” and other derogatory names and threatened to beat him up and to kill him and KC. This incident occurred in the presence of two faculty hall monitors and science teacher Anna Leo as well as several students, including KG and KM. DS and WB pursued DC even after he was pulled into a classroom by Leo and the door was locked. Vice Principal Balducci made DC write up the events in the cafeteria and the hallway. Plaintiffs have never been provided with a copy or an opportunity to review DC's write-up, despite requests to do so. Only the events in the cafeteria were disclosed to DC's parents; what transpired in the hallway was not. Following the incident, Balducci and Principal Avella accused DC of using a racial epithet regarding the minority students. DC denied using any racial slurs or epithets directed towards the students who threatened him in the cafeteria and hallway. DC did acknowledge saying in the cafeteria, “what are the black kids laughing at.”
In Avella's office that day, Avella spoke to DC about how the use of the word “black” may be both inflammatory and derogatory and how it was inappropriate to classify people in that manner. She urged DC to refrain from using the word. Neither Balducci nor Avella commented on the use of the words “whiteboy” or “cracker” directed at DC. No incident report was written up regarding these events.
The next day, on October 29, TC and the parents of KG and KM, two white students who had witnessed the incidents, came to the school to speak with Avella. Avella told TC that no one would be punished for the October 28 incident; that the school had taken steps to curb further inappropriate behavior; and that she expected all parties involved to stop any escalation or they would face strict discipline. Balducci told TC and DC that they would “bring down the hammer” if any further incidents occurred.
During the meeting, Avella stated:
My heart goes out to the people who were oppressed for 200 years. You can't possibly know what it's like to be a person of color in America today.... Your ideas and morals are disgusting and anyone who believes in the things you do is a despicable human being.... I have a white supremacist in my family. He's a complete hypocrite and ruins our holidays. We have to argue with him over the fact that he admires a black man he works with.
TC told Avella that although DC may have had some behavioral issues that year, his issues had nothing to do with race.
During the meeting, Vice Principal Millicent Lee, who is African–American, confirmed that she had never had any issues regarding DC. Avella then stated that Avella did not respond when TC asked her what that had to do with the matters at hand. As TC and DC were leaving the office, Avella remarked to DC,
On October 30, Officer Kenneth Byrnes of the Town of Montgomery Police Department who was assigned to the VCHS as a school resource officer pulled DC out of class and told him that he should not attend the football game Friday night because there were rumors of retaliation threatened against him. Byrnes told KG, a white student who had witnessed the October 28 incident, the same thing. Balducci called TC at home and told him that the administration had heard rumors about retaliation if DC attended the Friday football game. TC expressed his concern on how the administration was handling the situation.
On Friday October 31, TC requested a meeting with Avella and Bouldin; Wimmer attended in Bouldin's stead. TC again expressed his concern about the manner in which the October 28 incident and the retaliation threats were being handled. TC further remarked that the minority students involved in the incidents were on the football team and questioned whether the upcoming game played a role in the administrators' decision not to punish them.
After TC left, Avella left a message on plaintiffs' home answering machine stating that DC had been brought into the office. DC was kept there until the end of the school day with no clear explanation. He was not allowed to call his parents despite numerous requests to do so. DC was told that he was being kept in the office for his safety. Plaintiffs received a written referral indicating that DC had been followed between classes and would be punished if he continued his “aimless wandering.” This referral was not in DC's official school record. While in the office, DiMaio told DC that he should go home. Avella told DC that “your opinions are not equal to ours, maybe they will be when you have a degree, until then you have no right to question myself or Mr. DiMaio.”
When DC went to the school bus that day, two minority students who had been involved in the October 28 incident stood outside the bus taunting DC to get off the bus and fight. This was witnessed by Balducci who told the two students to move on.
After finding out about this, TC called Balducci and questioned why there had...
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