Mom sues SJA after kid suspended for not 'immediately' reporting bullet

A Virginia Beach mother is suing St. John the Apostle School for less than $5,000 after her child was suspended for waiting too long to report another student who allegedly brought a bullet to school.

The lawsuit, filed by Tim Anderson, a former state delegate, on behalf of the parent, Rachel Wigand, says her 11-year-old child is a sixth grade student at the private Catholic school.

Wigand is asking for judgment against the school in the amount of $4,870 — half of the annual tuition for the child to attend SJA — attorney fees, and "any further relief under the circumstances."

Days after alleged bullet incident, school was canceled for two days following threats made by a man unaffiliated with the school community. The man accused of making the threats, Bobby Dale Francisco , 30, of South Mills, N.C., referenced news coverage of the bullet incident and disciplinary actions that followed, a school official told News 3 earlier this month.

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SJA Principal Jennifer Davey, Michael Riley, the Diocese of Richmond’s superintendent of schools, and Rev. Jamie R. Workman are listed as defendants. The school operates under the supervision of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond.

The lawsuit claims on September 5:

• Another student showed the plaintiff’s child a bullet before taking a test.
  
• The child took the test, went to another class, then immediately told Davey about the bullet. The report was made within two hours of initially seeing the bullet, the suit says.
  
• Police were called and the bullet was recovered from the student who showed the plaintiff’s child the bullet.

The child who reported the bullet was suspended by Principal Davey for the rest of the school day on September 5 and on September 6 for “failing to immediately report” the bullet to school officials, the lawsuit states.
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The child was suspended for 1.5 days, which is the same suspension length the child who allegedly brought the bullet to school got, the suit claims.

Since it was an out-of-school suspension, it’s now on the child’s permanent academic record, according to the suit.

In the suit, the attorney argues that the student-parent handbook doesn’t require students to immediately report if another student has ammunition. The suit also says the student or parent were never told of such a requirement.

The suit further argues that the handbook doesn’t require immediate reporting for any school safety concern, except those involving sexual harassment.

The lawsuit accuses the school of breaching its contract with the parent for suspending the child for reasons not stated in the handbook, thus denying the child education the plaintiff pays for.

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