Lawsuit notice alleges KCK Public Schools failed to prevent assault of 11-year-old student
By Andy Alcock
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KANSAS CITY, Kansas (KMBC) — An attorney for a boy who claims he was both physically and sexually assaulted in a bathroom at Eisenhower Middle School has filed notice with the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools Board of Education of a pending $5 million lawsuit.
“He was violently offended by a number of boys against his will, physically restrained while they sexually assaulted him,” said David Smith, the attorney for the boy and his parents.
The notice states the incident happened April 30, and the boy was 11 and in sixth grade at the time.
Smith said a group of three or four eighth-grade boys dragged the sixth grader into a bathroom and then took turns hitting him in the head, stomach, and sexually assaulting him while restraining him.
“He lives in daily fear. And that’s really unfortunate for somebody his age. He’s in counseling,” Smith said.
Smith’s lawsuit notice claims Eisenhower Middle School had shut down several bathrooms due to other incidents before this one.
And the notice claims there was supposed to be an adult monitor outside the bathroom when the boy was assaulted, but there wasn’t one.
“That’s a gross mistake by the school district’s part, because there have been enough things that have happened in the bathrooms at that school that this was foreseeable. And if it’s foreseeable, it’s predictable. And if it’s predictable, it’s preventable. All they needed was to step up and follow their own policies, and they failed,” Smith said.
KCKPS School Board members Valdenia Winn and Vice-chair Wanda Brownlee Paige said administrators didn’t tell them what happened at Eisenhower Middle School after the incident as they should have.
As a result, they were blindsided by the lawsuit notice issued August 18.
“I didn’t know anything because when the gentleman knocked on the door, I said, well, how can I help you? He said, I want to serve you with this. And I said, well, what is it? He said, just read it. And then when I shut the door, I was like, wow, this is unbelievable,” Paige said.
“It’s not fair to the board. We were elected by the people to at least be the caretakers. But if we don’t know, things happen, how can we reassure our parents, our constituents, our staff, the students? There is a serious communication problem with us. If it’s not deliberate and intentional, then do differently,” Winn said.
Smith said to his knowledge, Eisenhower parents with students not involved in the incident weren’t told what happened either.
He said KCKPS police officers ultimately showed up after the assault and referred the boy to Sunflower House to be examined.
But Smith has not yet received a copy of the police report he requested.
“As far as this little boy knows, his violators are still free. His violators are still at school,” Smith said.
He also said the boy is now attending a different school.
KMBC 9 Investigates has learned Maria Castleberry was a KCKPS police officer at Eisenhower Middle until she was fired in January.
Castleberry believes she was forced out for refusing to drop charges against a boy who badly beat up a girl at Eisenhower Middle.
Former KCKPS Deputy Police Chief Sy Colaco wrote a letter to the administration defending Castleberry.
Colaco, who was also later let go, said Castleberry was unfairly fired, “railroaded”.
With Castleberry gone, KMBC 9 Investigates has learned there was no police officer working at Eisenhower Middle the day the boy claims he was assaulted.
KMBC 9 Investigates first raised safety concerns about the KCKPS system in 2023.
Marialexa Sanoja quit her job as a KCKPS police officer at Wyandotte High School in frustration due to guns and drugs on school property, daily fights, and sex in the school frequently going unreported to parents and with little consequences.
“Nobody was hearing what I was saying. Nobody’s hearing the parents,” Sanoja said in 2023.
“Our schools are some of the safest places for our students in the community,” said KCKPS Superintendent Dr. Anna Stubblefield in 2023. “Unfortunately, in the urban core, you may see more fights, unfortunately.”
The school district has thirty days from the August 18 notice to respond to the pending lawsuit.
Administrators declined a request for documents and comment on the boy’s Eisenhower Middle School claims, stating they are exempt under Kansas law.
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