PHILADELPHIA — Unionville-Chadds Ford School District denies most allegations by parents of a former Unionville High School special education student who allegedly engaged in "concerning behavior" over the internet in 2016, which ultimately involved West Coast law enforcement.
School district officials say the Twitter post by the student, identified in court records only as "J.C.", is not speech protected by the First Amendment, and that they did not retaliate against J.C. or his parents over the Tweet, according to the 43-page answer and affirmative defenses to plaintiffs' complaint.
"J.C.'s tweet constitutes a true threat and true threats are not protected by the First Amendment," the answer said. "A reasonable student in J.C.'s position would have thought that his tweet would be perceived as a threat of violence. J.C.'s tweet created a substantial disruption and interference of the school environment and is not protected by the First Amendment."
The school district maintains that J.C. and his parents, identified as "James and Carolyn C." are not entitled to supplement the student's administrative record, compensatory damages, exemplary damages, reimbursement of private educational services costs or attorney fees or costs for their lawsuit. The court also should deny an order to reverse a hearing officer's decision and the requestion for a permanent injunction that would require the school district to expunge J.C.'s records, according to the answer.
The answer was filed June 22 in U.S. District Court for Pennsylvania's Eastern District. The case is assigned to Judge Gerald John "Jerry" Pappert.
The education discrimination case was filed a little more than a year ago following a closed hearing the previous April in which a state special education hearing officer denied part of the parents' request for private school and compensatory education reimbursement.
That decision included information about the "very concerning internet behavior" Feb. 25, 2016 during a "learning to learn" class.
"Law enforcement on the West Coast discovered the behavior, deemed it an urgent concern involving possible danger and alerted the Pennsylvania state police who contacted the district after school hour," the hearing officer's order said.
"A subsequent investigation revealed that [J.C.] had previously engaged in similar concerning behavior."
In an eight-page order handed down last May, Pappert denied part of a defense motion to dismiss the case, including allegations of First Amendment violations arising from J.C.'s alleged activity on Twitter.
"Without a developed factual record to include reactions of teachers and administrators who were notified about J.C.'s tweet, the Court is unable to determine whether the tweet constituted a true threat," that order said.
Following the tweet, school officials determined J.C. was not a threat to himself or others but he was moved into another classroom, the defense answer said.
"Shortly before J.C.’s threatening tweet was discovered, the IST team determined that he should be placed, diagnostically, in an emotional support classroom," the answer said.