The Ohio Supreme Court has sided with three Toledo public school employees in a lawsuit brought by the parents of a kindergartener alleging the employees acting recklessly by not preventing bullying by another student.
The parents of the child sued teacher Amanda Lute, Assistant Principal Cynthia Skaff, and Principal Ralph Schade for allegedly failing to intervene to prevent an alleged series of bullying incidents from escalating. The parents claim that their child's cheek was punctured by a pencil.
The Ohio and Toledo Federation of Teachers, Buckeye Association of School Administrators, Ohio Association for School Business Officials, Ohio School Boards Association, the Toledo Association of Administrative Personnel, and the City of Toledo filed briefs in defense of the employees and voiced concern over the precedent the case could take if it was allowed to proceed.
The justices say the appellants presented evidence that they took steps to prevent bullying in the classroom.
The school district's attorney said they were “extremely pleased with the court’s unanimous ruling.”
