Lawsuit alleges Winnsboro ISD ignored bullying for years, retaliated against family

WINNSBORO, Texas ( KETK ) – A family filed a lawsuit against Winnsboro ISD accusing the district of engaging “in a yearslong retaliatory campaign” against them after they tried numerous times to report bullying against their son.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court against WISD and its board members, asserts that the district ignored complaints of sexual harassment and physical abuse, detailing alleged instances in which the district retaliated against the plaintiff’s family.

Board members named in the lawsuit are Duncan McAdoo, Brandon Green, Stacy Brown, Jay Murdock, Kristie Amason, Billy Saucier and Brian Busby. The lawsuit accuses them and other high ranking school officials of violating Title IX and ADA laws in addition to FERPA violations.

The court filing, dated July 17, accuses the school of failing to investigate complaints of bullying and instead engaging in an “intentional, organized, ongoing campaign to stalk and retaliate against all plaintiffs.” It asserts that the district “made up false stories about each of the plaintiffs, and communicated those falsities verbally and in writing on numerous occasions, including in the permanent educational record of [the student] and in the permanent employment record of [his mother], who was an employee of WISD at the time.”

The student who was reportedly being bullied had a disability registered with WISD in August 2021, and the district held “numerous” Section 504 meetings with the student’s parents.

BULLYING ALLEGATIONS

The lawsuit lists 13 complaints about six different instances of bullying between August 2021 and March 2023.

The complaints start in August 2021 when WISD was informed of a harassment incident in which sexually explicit language was used toward the student plaintiff. The lawsuit alleges three other harassment incidents that year, in which the student plaintiff was shown a sexually explicit image of another student and subjected to more vulgar language.

By 2022, the lawsuit states that the bullying turned violent when the student plaintiff was cornered, physically assaulted and further threatened in the locker room for being a “snitch.” The following year, another incident allegedly occurred in which school camera footage showed the student being slung into a cafeteria wall by a bully.

The lawsuit alleges that both Superintendent Dave Wilcox and Athletic Director Joshua Finney dismissed harassment complaints as “deer camp talk” and failed to investigate or address the issues at hand. The student and parents made complaints in person, over the phone and through email in ongoing attempts to report the bullying to no avail, per the lawsuit.

ALLEGED RETALIATION

The lawsuit claims that the district retaliated against the student and his parents for their complaints of bullying, including banning both parents from campus and filing bogus complaints with their workplaces.

Additionally, WISD is accused of “creating a false permanent educational record” for the student, stating that the student was engaged in the same behavior as his alleged bullies.

One of the instances involves an email the student’s mother sent to WISD in December 2021, detailing the bullying, the detrimental effect it was having on the student and a plea for help from the district.

Superintendent Wilcox is accused of releasing that email to the alleged bully’s mother. The family filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education about the release of that information, which they say violates the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA.

After the student’s father, a law enforcement officer, made public comments before the school board in April 2022 about the bullying, the lawsuit alleges WISD “retaliated against his wife by reporting her to the Texas Education Agency” in a complaint that Texas Education Agency later found to be “unsubstantiated.”

The student’s mother had been employed with WISD for nine years when the lawsuit claims she was “wrongfully suspended,” banned from campus and the district refused to renew her employment contract.

It also accuses the district of retaliating against the father by complaining about him to his employer, and using the confidential December 2021 email as evidence. The Texas Department of Public Safety and the Office of the Inspector General reportedly found the complaint to be “unfounded.”

In addition, the father was served a criminal trespass warning by WISD Police Chief Jody Hettich on July 26, 2022 due to accusations of him threatening employees. The lawsuit claims Hettich “had not reviewed any evidence of wrongdoing” and did not take a statement from the father.

The following day, Wilcox informed the student’s mother that she was placed on administrative leave and effectively banned from campus, citing “disruptive behavior” and failure to follow Board policies and codes of conduct.

The parents missed school events, including sports events, award ceremonies and a graduation ceremony as a result of being banned from campus.

The lawsuit states that Wilcox made more accusations against the father and his employer until the father ceased all contact with the district.

AFTERMATH

As a result of the bullying and the district’s alleged mishandling of it, the student transferred to another district.

“Plaintiffs never expected to be targeted by the school district for reporting these issues,” according to the lawsuit. “This targeting has created a divide in the small community where they live and has resulted in their becoming targets of some hostile community members.”

As of the filing date, the mother was still unable to find a job in her profession.

When KETK News reached out to Winnsboro ISD, we were told they had not been served with the lawsuit yet, and therefore would not yet comment on the matter.

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