Lawsuits against WCSD say students with disabilities were attacked, one by a teacher

The Washoe County School District is facing two new lawsuits claiming children with disabilities were victims of violent assaults.

One suit alleges a Dilworth Middle School teacher taunted, harassed and assaulted a 12-year-old boy in September.

The second lawsuit says a student at Jerry Whitehead Elementary School in Sparks was bullied by peers, choked and sexually assaulted by another student in February 2022.

Attorneys Joey Gilbert of Reno and Sigal Chattah of Las Vegas jointly filed both suits in state court against the district, the board of trustees and Superintendent Susan Enfield. Gilbert and Chattah ran unsuccessfully for state offices last year campaigning on education issues.

Gilbert and Chattah did not return requests for interviews. Gilbert sent a statement saying the Nevada Department of Education’s “callous disregard for half-a-million public school students is literally threatening their lives and our entire state’s future.”

Asked for comment, the district's chief general counsel, Neil Rombardo, replied, “In response to the various social media posts by counsel and their supporters, the Washoe County School District asks the community not to jump to conclusions based on allegations found in lawsuits.”

“The district’s employees work hard every day to provide a safe respectful learning environment for our students, and it deserves its day in court like any other entity," Rombardo wrote.  "Unlike opposing counsel, the Office of the General Counsel will not litigate this matter in the media, social media, or online posts, instead we look forward to vigorously representing our clients against these allegations in court.”  

What we know about the Dilworth case

According to the lawsuit, on Sept. 21, the child at Dilworth Middle School became upset in teacher Michael Ismari's classroom and went into another teacher's room.

The suit states that Ismari followed the boy, who said he would "swing" at Ismari if the teacher didn’t leave him alone.

According to the lawsuit, Ismari antagonized the student, calling him a racial slur; the boy charged at him, and Ismari slammed him to the floor and restrained him.  

“Ismari laid on top of minor plaintiff, with his forearm on top of minor plaintiff’s sternum," the suit says. "The other teacher told him to get off minor plaintiff multiple times, and it was not until other administrators and counselors came over, and not until the principal told Ismari to get off of minor plaintiff multiple times, that he did.”

According to the suit, students recorded the incident and posted it online.

The Washoe County School District said Ismari resigned on Dec. 23, 2022. The RGJ has attempted to contact him for comment.

Lawsuit says child was sexually assaulted by a classmate

In a second suit, the district is accused of not protecting a child with disabilities from other classmates, including refusing to enforce a court-ordered temporary protection order.

The child was 9 and 10 during the alleged attacks in the second half of the 2021-22 school year. The suit says incidents include the child being trapped in a bathroom and choked by a classmate, chased, threatened and sexually assaulted.

The victim's family filed a police report, but because the alleged attacker is a minor, it is not known if the child was arrested or charged with a crime.

The suit claims the district didn’t protect the child, who has anxiety, tachycardia and cyclical vomiting, from being discriminated against by classmates. The child was also belittled by classmates for his clothing, gender identity and perceived sexual orientation, it says.

The suit also accused the district of not helping mitigate the abuse by refusing to enforce a court-ordered temporary protection order issued on Aug. 22, 2022, against the child who is accused of assaulting the victim.

Asked how it handles protection orders involving students, the district responded, "Generally, both students are still entitled to attend school."

“The school works with the party who obtained the TPO," the district said of its general practice. "In fact, often times, the court will state in a TPO that it does not apply at school, and the court admonishes the subject of TPO to stay away from the obtainer of the TPO at school.”

WCSD's prior settlements over abuse cases involving children with disabilities

The lawsuits follow high-cost settlements the district has paid that have involved the mistreatment of children with disabilities.  

In February 2022, the district paid out its largest settlement, $4.4 million, to the family of a child with disabilities.  The settlement said there were “multiple acts of severe physical abuse and bullying by another male student of similar age" that occurred between December 2020 and May 2021. 

 In August 2016, the district paid $1.35 million to two families that accused a teacher of abuse at Marvin Picollo School.