LOUISIANA
Louisiana Record
Dawn Brotherton Jun. 9, 2016
BATON ROUGE—State Sen. J.P. Morrell (D-District 3) has requested a state inquiry into allegations of child abuse at a Shreveport Episcopal school for not following mandated reporting laws, but the head of one advocacy group says mandated reporting, while well-intentioned, doesn’t address the real needs of the children.
A mother is suing St. Mark’s Cathedral School (SMCS) because she believes her son, identified only as M.R. was wrongfully expelled from the school. According to the lawsuit, her 6th-grade son stayed in a cabin with four other male students at Pine Cove when they were on a weekend trip in 2014. After the trip, one of the other students who stayed in M.R.’s cabin accused him of inappropriate behavior, and the student’s mom filed a complaint with the school. According to news reports, the chaperones did not witness the behavior and reported that M.R.’s conduct was appropriate.
Two days after the field trip, SCMS Head of School Chris Carter expelled the young boy. The Withdrawal Certificate states that he was expelled for “inappropriate touching of other students when not in the presence of adults.”
In October 2015, the mother sued Carter and SCMS for disability discrimination, breach of contract, disparate treatment, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violation of the family educational rights and privacy act.
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