The mother of a Roosevelt High School student filed a $2 million lawsuit
against Portland Public Schools Thursday, claiming the district failed
to institute adequate security measures that would have prevented her
teenage daughter from being struck more than 80 times in less than a minute as school employees “stood by and watched.”
Lannette Kali filed the lawsuit on behalf of her daughter, Dania Kali,
whom the suit says was in her first year at Roosevelt High in February
2024 when a senior girl kicked, hit, grabbed and slapped Dania Kali in a
school hallway, with school staff “declining to intervene.” The suit
states the older student attacked Dania Kali, then 15, because she
didn’t like Dania Kali’s expression as she walked by.
"...her daughter, who was wearing noise canceling earbuds because sounds
at school can sometimes overwhelm her, was deep in thought in the
hallway when the older student walked up to her and said “Why are you
looking at me sideways?”"
"In response to a public records
request, however, statistics compiled by Portland Public Schools show
reported assaults have remained relatively consistent today compared to
before the pandemic among the district’s 81 schools. About 3,000 have been reported so far this school year. That’s more than 20 assaults per day districtwide."
Earlier this year, the father of a former Roosevelt High student
filed a $980,000 lawsuit claiming the district negligently failed to
supervise another student who raped his daughter in a school bathroom
during school hours in March 2022. Portland police said they
investigated and forwarded the case to the Multnomah County District
Attorney’s Office, which declined to prosecute for reasons that were
unclear. Police said investigative records for the case aren’t available
because it appears they have been expunged.
https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2024/10/student-struck-other-student-80-times-as-portland-school-staff-stood-by-and-watched-2m-suit-says.html
