North Mason parents sue school district

Editor’s note: The Journal does not identify minor victims of sexual crimes or their families.

The parents of a 5-year-old kindergartner have sued North Mason School District after video footage showed the child being “sexually and physically abused” by a fifth grade student during a bus ride home, according to the complaint filed April 1 in Mason County Superior Court.

The complaint states the child has developmental and speech delays and attended kindergarten in the North Mason School District.

The district provided door-to-door transportation for the child in a small bus for special education students, according to the complaint.

The district modified its transportation plan Sept. 13, and the child began riding a larger bus with older children, the complaint states.

The kindergartner’s “parents were concerned about her riding on the bus with older children given her age, speech delays, and the number of children on the bus,” according to the complaint.

On Sept. 22, the girl took the larger bus home and when her mother met her, the girl was crying and “distressed and acting out of character,” according to her mother.

The bus driver allegedly “brushed off” the child’s distress, the complaint states.

The child’s mother says she called the school district and requested video footage from the bus ride.

“The district did not immediately provide the footage nor a response,” according to the mother.

“On September 26, 2023, [mother] was called for an emergency meeting at the school regarding the bus footage. [Mother] was informed by the District that the footage showed [child] was sexually and physically abused by a 5th grade boy during the bus ride on September 22,” according to the complaint.

“The footage showed the 5th grade boy was told to sit next to [girl] by the bus driver. The boy then sexually and physically abuses [girl] for thirty-six minutes,” the complaint states.

The girl can be seen “crying and shaking her head no repeatedly” according to a police report about the incident.

“The district was — in all circumstances — deliberately indifferent to the sexual abuse and physical abuse of [child],” according to the complaint.

The child’s parents say NMSD negligently hired, trained and supervised employees and failed to protect the girl from “a student with known behavioral issues.”

They are asking for general, special and punitive damages for negligence and discrimination.

“The district created a hostile environment for [child] in ways including but not limited to placing her on a regular school bus given her age and disability, placing a 5th grader next to her with a history of behavioral issues, failing to supervise either the 5th grader or [child] and allowing the abuse of [child] by failing to intervene when she cried and yelled for help,” the complaint states.

The health, safety and welfare of students is always the paramount concern of North Mason School District. Any harm or injury to a student is therefore always troubling to us. We are aware of the pending lawsuit, which is being defended by counsel appointed by North Mason School District’s insurer. We have been instructed by counsel not to provide any further comment on the pending litigation,” North Mason School District Superintendent Dana Rosenbach said in an emailed statement to the Journal.

The parents are represented by lead attorney Amanda Searle with Connelly Law Offices in Tacoma.