Southeast Valley school officials are accused of disregarding an attack by the “Gilbert Goons” and failing to protect a student before and after he was beaten.
The boy’s father filed a $6 million notice of claim Monday against the Chandler Unified School District, saying officials were warned his son had received death threats before being “jumped” by the gang — and made no effort to stop it.
The claim also names the Gilbert Police Department, alleging the school resource officer did not take basic steps to prevent the assault or to determine who was behind it. A notice of claim is a required step before a lawsuit against a public entity or employee in Arizona.
The vice principal and resource officer at Perry High School, which is in the Chandler district but located in Gilbert, instead “took sides with and defended” the attackers, including one whose stepmother is a principal at a district elementary school, according to the claim.
Richard Kuehner said his son sustained a severe concussion and other injuries during an August beating at the In-N-Out Burger in Gilbert. But Perry officials did not discipline students for “making death threats and then following through with a savage beating,” according to the claim.