WFMJ.com News weather sports for Youngstown-Warren OhioBoardman School District Sued In Two Separate Bullying Cases

Boardman School District Sued In Two Separate Bullying Cases

BOARDMAN TOWNSHIP, OH - It is a serious problem that has received national attention and tonight the Boardman Local School District is facing two separate lawsuits alleging that middle school students were bullied for years and school administrators did nothing to stop it.

The two separate lawsuits could be costly for the Boardman School District, in one case the teenage plaintiff and her family are asking for in excess of 12-million dollars in damages.  That case is filed in federal court.  That suit names not only the Boardman School District, but 10 students and their parents as well as Boardman Community Baseball.

According to Attorneys James Gentile and Rhys B. Cartwright-Jones the bullying and harassment was not only face to face but, "Took the form of constant name calling, harassment, teasing and verbal and electronic intimidation, including threats and wishes of death (to the female student), and on more than one occasion physical intimidation to the extent of tortuous assault."  That student who attended Glenwood Middle School does not plan to return to the District for the upcoming school year.

In a separate lawsuit filed with the Mahoning County Court, a 13-year-old Boardman Center Middle School student and her parents say she was bullied, harassed and intimidated in school and even though Principals at the School and Guidance Counselors were made aware of the on-going problems they allegedly did nothing to protect the child.  Her attorney, Robert Rohrbaugh, II says, "Simply put you have a young girl who was a student in the Boardman Schools experiencing bullying both physical and mental at the hands of other students.  It was on-going and persistant and it was made known to the Administration and nothing was done.  It kept going on and on to the point where the student has ultimately left the Boardman School District and is now at another school."

Boardman Schools Superintendent, Frank Lazzeri says he can not comment on pending legal matters.