Reichert v. Pathway School

935 F. Supp. 2d 808, 2013 WL 1234662, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42896
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 26, 2013
DocketCivil Action No. 11-622
StatusPublished

This text of 935 F. Supp. 2d 808 (Reichert v. Pathway School) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reichert v. Pathway School, 935 F. Supp. 2d 808, 2013 WL 1234662, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42896 (E.D. Pa. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

McLAUGHLIN, District Judge.

The plaintiff, Wendy Reichert, initiated this case in her capacity as parent of John Doe, who, while attending defendant Pathway School, was repeatedly sexually abused by an older student on school premises. Ms. Reichert brings her suit against Pathway School under a negligence cause of action. She brings her suit against Garnet Valley School District, which participated in the placement of John Doe at Pathway and remained responsible for his education, under the “state-created danger” theory of 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

There are two pending motions in this case. Pathway School has moved for partial summary judgment on the plaintiffs claim for punitive damages. Garnet Valley has moved for summary judgment on the entirety of the plaintiffs state-created danger claim. For the reasons stated below, the Court denies Pathway’s motion for partial summary judgment, and it grants Garnet Valley’s motion for summary judgment.

I. Factual and Procedural History

A. Factual Summary1

Minor-plaintiff John Doe was a student residing within the Garnet Valley School District (“District”) in Pennsylvania. From first until third grade, John Doe attended Bethel Springs Elementary School in that district. First Am. Compl. ¶ 3; Tr. Wendy Reichert Dep. 10/13/11 (“Reichert Dep. I”) 91:20-23.

In or around the fall of 2007, when John Doe was in third grade, he was diagnosed with Asbergers syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder. John Doe’s behavioral issues manifested itself in the form of verbal outbursts and tantrums, aggression problems, and inappropriate comments on the school bus. The school also observed that John Doe had on more than one instance stood on the toilet in the boys’ bathroom and looked at students in other stalls. Reichert Dep. I 41:8-42:15; 31:3-7, 20-23; 69:18-70:12; Beverly Smith Dep. (“Smith Dep.”) 20:5-23; Becky Konkle Dep. (“Konkle Dep.”) 25:22-26:13.

In or around the spring of 2008, the District informed John Doe’s mother, Wendy Reichert, that it could not provide the therapy or support her son needed. Ms. Reichert began having conversations with teachers and administrators about possible alternative placement outside of [813]*813the District. Reichert Dep. 1/18/12 (“Reichert Dep. II”) 139:19-140:15; 141:12-14.

At an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting in May 2008, John Doe’s IEP team discussed the possibility of moving him to an alternative school for the subsequent school year. John Doe’s IEP team at that point consisted of various members of the District, including the school psychologist and assistant director of special education, and Ms. Reichert, who also holds a post master’s degree in school nursing. Reichert Dep. 110:3-8; Reichert Dep. II, 179:1-9; Smith Dep. 47:3-8; 52:22-53:8; 82:22-24.

One of the alternative schools considered by the IEP team was the Pathway School, located in Norristown, Pennsylvania. The Pathway School is a private special education school for elementary and secondary students with autism, brain damage, learning disabilities, mental and physical handicaps, speech and language impairment, and social and emotional disturbance. Pathway is on the list of state-approved placements and was Garnet Valley’s recommended placement for John Doe. First Am. Compl. ¶ 5; Reichert Dep. I 50:17-19; 51:18-52:1; 46:3-5. •

After visiting its campus, Ms. Reichert agreed with her son’s placement at the Pathway School, and in September 2008, John Doe began attending Pathway.2 At the time of enrollment, John Doe was nine years of age. Ms. Reichert understood that her son would be one of the younger children on campus, and she knew there would be eleven-year-olds in his classes. Reichert Dep. I 54:21-55:11; Dep. Nina Prestía (“Prestía Dep.”) 17:20-23; First Am. Compl. ¶ 9-11; Smith Dep. 56:12-16.

During the fall semester, John Doe took classes at the third-grade level, including a third-grade math class. He was the youngest student in the class. The oldest student was eleven years old. Prestía Dep. 17:17-20; 18:3-10.

Sometime during that semester, Ms. Reichert approached the Pathway School to request that John Doe be placed in the fourth-grade math class. Ms. Reichert felt that her son was not able to get instruction on his math level in the third-grade class. This request was put forth and consented to by John Doe’s IEP team at a January 2009 meeting, which was attended by Ms. Reichert, a number of Pathway faculty, and Beverly Smith, special education director and local education agent (LEA) on behalf of the District. Prestía Dep. 32:17-33:18; Reichert Dep. II 10:24-11:16; Smith Dep. 29:14-30:1; 81:4-5, exh. 1 at 2.

Pathway’s practice is to provide a waiver for the parent to sign, which would acknowledge parental consent to being in a class with students of older ages. Pathway provided Ms. Reichert with such a written waiver. However, Ms. Reichert never signed the waiver. Prestía Dep. 14:14-24; Dep. Angela D’Alessandro (“Alessandro Dep.”) 27:13-22; Reichert Dep. II 15:4-12.

Ms. Reichert knew that there would be students in the fourth-grade math class up to thirteen years of age, but not up to fifteen years. With that knowledge, she gave permission for her son to enter the class during the spring semester. Specifically, Ms. Reichert signed a Notice of Recommended Educational Placement (NO-REP) that corresponded to an IEP report noting an age difference of at least three years. She had a phone conversation with Pathway and District employees in which she gave oral permission to place John Doe in the older class. She also provided [814]*814written permission for him to sit with his classmates at lunch. Among John Doe’s classmates in the advanced math class was. a fifteen-year-old student: T.Y.3 Reichert Dep. II 13:24-14:15; 11:3-13:8; Smith Dep. exh. 1 at 6 (January 2009 IEP Form); 2/7/09 Reichert Email (Def. Pathway School Mot. for Summ. J. exh. H).

Sometime during his time at Pathway, John Doe became acquainted with an older student referred to in the papers as T.Y.4 John Doe and T.Y. first met in the schoolyard and began interacting with each other frequently, both at school and on the phone. The Pathway School was aware of this friendship. Dep. John Doe 5/9/12 (“Doe Dep. I”) 10:16-18; 76:9-18; D’Alessandro Dep. 44:9-19.

At some point around winter break 2008, and lasting until May 2009, John Doe and T.Y. began having sexual encounters while on school grounds and during school hours. The sexual contact took place in different bathrooms around the school. The first encounter was involuntary; following the first time, the two met numerous times to have oral and anal sex.5

The sexual encounters often took place in two bathrooms that were very close in proximity to the classroom of John Doe’s homeroom teacher. On more than one encounter, John Doe left his homeroom class to go to the bathroom to meet T.Y., who had class in a different building and walked over to John Doe’s building unaccompanied. The homeroom teacher’s aide observed John Doe walking to the bathroom until John Doe shut the door. On several occasions, his teacher or her aide knocked on the bathroom door as John Doe and T.Y. were engaging in sexual acts but they were not discovered.

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Bluebook (online)
935 F. Supp. 2d 808, 2013 WL 1234662, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42896, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reichert-v-pathway-school-paed-2013.