An Island family has brought a lawsuit against the Mercer Island School District and up to 10 other defendants in Federal Court contending that the civil rights of their son, then a student at Islander Middle School, were violated.

The plaintiffs, Islanders Nicholas and Robin Wilts, on behalf of their minor child, referred to as B.W., have brought the suit for monetary damages and injunctive relief.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle in October, the plaintiffs said that it was the “deliberate indifference to the deprivation of their [son’s] rights” as the motivation for their action.

The Wilts’ complaint is that the district did not adequately address their concerns that their son endured racial slurs and related harassment in a timely fashion as required by state law and was “deliberately indifferent” to the “known racially hostile educational environment.”

Of the lawsuit, Mercer Island School District Superintendent Gary Plano said: “What I know is that I feel confident that the family and the student were treated fairly and appropriately and without discrimination. There is no basis for concluding otherwise.”

Among other charges, the plaintiffs say that the district failed to provide policies and procedures that would have ensured the proper training and supervision for its employees, in regards to non-discrimination matters.

This conduct, the plaintiff said, “caused them to hire and become obligated to pay an attorney to defend their rights.”

This is not the first complaint brought by the plaintiffs against the school district in this matter. The first judge who looked at the case ruled that the investigation done by the school district regarding the incidents was flawed, and those flaws were sufficiently serious enough to create a hostile environment. The school district appealed and a higher court later dismissed the case.

B.W. came to Islander Middle School shortly after his family moved to the Island in the fall of 2011. He was a new student in the seventh grade at Islander Middle School. He is of mixed race, and came with an individualized learning plan from his prior school district. He spent his first week at the school in IMS’ special education program, but was later moved into a regular classroom.

Just a few weeks later, B.W. reported two incidents of racial and ethnic harassment he endured from other students. They included racial slurs. The plaintiffs argue that the teachers and administrators did not respond quickly or appropriately to the incidents. They say that those failings led to significant emotional and physical damages to their son that also “negatively affected his access to education opportunities and impacted his academic performance.”

On behalf of their son and themselves, the Wilts accuse the school district of violating civil rights laws in five areas. They include laws that define racial discrimination in educational opportunity, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Denial of Equal Protection under the law. They also state that the school district knowingly violated laws defining First Amendment rights, and laws that forbid discrimination of persons with disabilities.

The Wilts’ son is now a student at Mercer Island High School.