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Former student files suit against school
By Robert Guttersohn
BOARDMAN
A former student of Boardman Local Schools has filed suit through her parents against the district alleging it failed to enforce its bullying policies.
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Robert Rohrbaugh, said the bullying “began in school and poured outside of” Boardman Center Middle School.
He said the bullying, which he would not detail, occurred from November 2008 to September 2010, included some physical abuse but mostly mental abuse. Rohrbaugh said the listed defendants — Randall Ebie, principal; Joseph Maroni, vice principal; and Mindy Dipietro and Anne Bott, guidance counselors — were informed multiple times of the harassment.
He said the defendants pulled those involved, including the victim, together and told them to get along. But nothing changed, Rohrbaugh said. And the parents informed the defendants of that, but no additional action was taken, he said.
According to the lawsuit, filed Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, Boardman schools enacted a policy against hazing and harassment in April 2007. All students attending the school must agree to obey the policy, and all employees must agree to “implement and enforce” it, according the suit.
Since then, the student, who is now 13, has transferred out of the district and is enrolled at a private school.
Superintendent Frank Lazzeri said he had yet to see the suit and could not comment.
“I understand there was bullying in the past; this is nothing new,” Rohrbaugh said. “ But with new technology, it can be taken to new levels that it never has before.”
He said there was one incident in which ethnic slurs were cast toward the student via a social-networking website.
The state of Ohio has passed anti-bullying legislation in the past. But Rohrbaugh criticized the laws, saying they are more of an advisory and did little to punish districts that violated it.
“Children are missing out on their glory years,” Rohrbaugh said. “Something must be done to protect the children.”
Karen Slovak, associate professor of social work at Ohio University, said current state law leaves gray areas when it comes to enforcing anti-bullying policies.
“They have a lot of the burden of proof on [the plaintiffs’] side,” Slovak said, speaking broadly of bullying lawsuits. “[Plaintiffs] will have to prove [the bullying] disrupted class time.”
She said there also is a flip side. Because students punished for bullying also have rights, they have sued schools for infringement of their First Amendment rights — particularly after-school cyber bullying.