A lawsuit filed by a former St. Charles East High School student who alleged District 303 officials did nothing to stop fellow drill team members from repeatedly bullying her was dismissed by a judge last week.
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On Thursday, Kane County Circuit Court Judge Edward Schreiber granted the district’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, but did so without predjudice, meaning the plaintiff can amend and refile the complaint, which the plaintiff’s attorney said would happen. The plaintiff has until Oct. 16 to refile an amended complaint, according to court documents.
The suit, which lists the district and several of its employees — including drill team coaches— as defendants, claims that district staff “knew or should have known” that the former student was verbally and physically bullied, harassed and hazed by fellow drill team members after being diagnosed with ADHD in summer 2010.
In a June 11 motion requesting the suit’s dismissal, District 303 attorneys argued that the former student’s claims are “barred” because of the district’s protection under the state Tort Immunity Act, which, they write, “cloaks school districts and their employees with absolute immunity from liability” when dealing with bullying complaints.
“Our complaint was alleging basically that coaches participated in the bullying so we need to make that aspect of the complaint a little stronger,” said Angela Kurtz, the plaintiff’s attorney. “We’re going to amend the complaint with a lot more facts about the coaches and all the other administrative.”
A status hearing on the case is scheduled for Nov. 19, according to court documents.