EAST ST. LOUIS – O’Fallon Township High School officials claim they expelled a student for fighting and not for reasons her mother alleges in a lawsuit., including retaliation and discrimination.
School board counsel Brian Funk of Northbrook moved to dismiss the suit on May 3, claiming Niesha Anthony and her daughter Zariah Anthony based it on embellished and patently false allegations.
He claimed they essentially seek to relitigate evidentiary questions and proper construction of various school regulations.
He added that Zariah Anthony “was involved in one of the most outrageous fist fights ever to occur at the O’Fallon Township High School.”
He claimed the school board suspended and ultimately disciplined her and the other combatant.
Niesha and Zariah Anthony sued the school board, superintendent Darcy Benway, and other officials in St. Clair County Circuit Court in February.
Their counsel Mark Schuver of Belleville claimed the board expelled Zariah in retaliation for her and her mother reporting harassment, intimidation, and bullying.
He claimed the board expelled her because she and her mother complained about statements of vice principal Twana Dollison at a meeting of black students in May 2022.
He also claimed Dollison placed a disciplinary report about their complaints in Zariah’s file.
“Reporting a racist statement made by a vice principal at a public school does not constitute a disciplinary offense, nor should it be recorded on a student’s disciplinary record,” he wrote.
Schuver claimed that on Sept. 6, a gang of bullies harassed and intimidated Zariah and her friends.
He claimed the bullies became so loud in a hallway that assistant principal Corey Wallis came out to see what was happening.
He added that a bully approached Zariah with the intent of causing physical harm and Wallis stepped between them and attempted to restrain the bully.
Schuver claimed other gang members rushed past school personnel to attack Zariah.
He alleged it took Wallis and security personnel to keep the bully from breaking free.
He claimed assistant principal Dan Howe immediately called Niesha Anthony and said the school was going to discipline Zariah for mob action.
Schuver wrote, “As it was undisputed that Zariah was alone against the gang of bullies, there was no rational basis for accusing Zariah of mob action.”
He claimed the board suspended her, held a hearing on Sept. 12, and expelled her.
He also claimed they failed to determine that her presence would be a threat to safety or would disrupt, impede, or interfere with the school’s operation.
“The severity of the punishment was extreme and unwarranted,” he wrote.
The school board removed the complaint to U.S. district court in March, asserting federal jurisdiction because Anthony alleged constitutional violations.
Funk claimed in his motion to dismiss that Niesha and Zariah Anthony didn’t allege the school board disciplined Zariah because she complained about Dollison.
He claimed they implied a connection between their complaint and the decision to discipline Zariah but they wisely stopped short of making a patently false allegation.
He added that the discipline policy doesn’t provide that notations in a discipline report are actual discipline or reflect any negative action taken.
Funk claimed the district’s handling of the complaint against Dollison did not constitute proof of deliberate indifference.
He claimed no facts in the complaint tended to show that the board took action against Zariah based on Dollison’s statements or because of her race.
He claimed the complaint failed to allege any action that would deter free speech.
He added that the school year would end by the time Niesha and Zariah respond to his motion and the matter would be moot.
District Judge Stephen McGlynn presides.