Latest news with #BaltimoreCountyBoardofEducation
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Yahoo
Family sues Baltimore County Schools over alleged assault by Overlea High teacher
A high school student's family is suing the Baltimore County Board of Education in excess of $75,000 over allegations that the teen was assaulted by a teacher. The family believes the school system failed to provide a safe environment and proper employee training, David A. Muncy, a Maryland-based attorney representing the family, wrote in court documents filed Thursday. On Nov. 21, 2023, the Overlea High School student, who was 15 at the time, allegedly suffered 'injuries to her body, as well as severe and protracted shock to her nervous system, all of which have caused her, and will continue to cause her, great pain and mental anguish,' according to the court filing. 'This was her favorite teacher, and she just never thought this was going to happen to her,' Muncy said in an interview. 'So she did some counseling and was checked out by her family doctor.' The teacher was briefly suspended and returned to the classroom, according to Muncy and the family. The family says the school district has offered no transparency or follow-up care. A spokesperson for Baltimore County schools declined to comment on pending litigation, except to say that 'BCPS followed its processes and thoroughly investigated the report.' The court documents did not disclose many details of the alleged assault, but Muncy provided some specifics. 'She came up behind her teacher, basically good morning, probably loud, but not anything out of the ordinary, and the teacher just turned around and basically started assaulting her, slapping her, hitting her,' Muncy said. 'We really don't know why. We still don't know why. And from there, she went and reported to the office. They took out a peace order, a protective order against the teacher, which was granted. The State's Attorney's office declined to file charges against her. We don't know why that is either.' The family also alleges the Board of Education failed to ensure its teachers had the 'proper temperament to safely interact with students' and did not properly monitor the mental health and competency of its teachers, according to the complaint. 'She didn't know what to do,' said the student's mother, whom The Baltimore Sun is not naming to protect her child's privacy. 'She wasn't expecting that something like that could happen to her, especially with someone that she trusts, with a figure that he's a teacher, and you trust them because [they are] educators. So she was in shock for a while.' The student was moved to a different school after the alleged event, according to her mother. 'She is thriving right now in the new school,' her mother said in the interview. 'She is doing what she likes, which is allied health. When she graduates, she wants to be an OB-GYN. … She is thriving with her peers at school and she is thriving with the teachers.' Have a news tip? Contact Todd Karpovich at tkarpovich@ or on X as @ToddKarpovich.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Yahoo
Former students at Dundalk Middle accuse school resource of sex abuse in new lawsuit
A former school resource officer at Dundalk Middle School has been accused of sexually abusing two students he was mentoring 20 years ago, according to a lawsuit in Baltimore County Circuit Court. The claim, filed Thursday on behalf of two unnamed plaintiffs, alleges that James Blankenship Jr. took advantage of his role 'to gain access to children' and assaulted them. It says the students, now adults in Maryland and North Carolina, were abused 'on multiple occasions' between 2004 and 2005. It seeks damages against Blankenship, a registered sex offender now living in Queen Anne's County, for assault and battery, as well as inflicting emotional distress onto the students. It also accuses the Baltimore County Board of Education of failing in its 'duty to protect' victims by hiring Blankenship and its negligence in supervising him. 'This disturbing case underscores the failure of Dundalk Middle School, and the Board of Education of Baltimore County under which it operates, to protect vulnerable children from horrific sexual abuse,' Robin Becker, the plaintiffs' attorney, said, 'not only by employing a serial pedophile, but by allowing him unsupervised access to students.' Thursday's complaint, filed by the Philadelphia-based firm Andreozzi and Foote, asks for punitive damages but does not list a specific amount. Blankenship, 47, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday on a phone number or email address listed in public records. A Baltimore County Public Schools spokesperson declined to comment on the pending litigation. As of Friday, there are no open criminal cases against Blankenship in Maryland, though public records show he has been convicted in two child sex abuse cases: first in Maryland in 2006 and then in Delaware in 2015. As a result of the second conviction, for sexual solicitation of a child, Blankenship registered as a Tier 3 sex offender in Delaware. The designation is lifelong, according to the state's code, and requires the offender to check in with law enforcement every three months. It was not clear in court records whether the 2006 case in Maryland was related to the plaintiffs from Thursday's lawsuit. However, public records show Blankenship pleaded guilty in that case to misconduct in office, as well as sexual abuse of a minor. He was sentenced to four years in prison, all but 18 months of which were suspended. Becker declined to answer whether her clients were involved in the 2006 case to protect their identity. As of Friday, no court dates have been scheduled. The lawsuit doesn't include details of the alleged abuse, other than that it happened multiple times. It does not state whether it happened on school property, but says Blankenship had befriended the students and earned their trust as a mentor. This is the latest in a string of legal claims involving county schools since Maryland's Child Victims Act became law in 2023. Signed by Gov. Wes Moore shortly after a report outlined decades of assaults and coverup within Baltimore's archdiocese, the bill removed Maryland's statute of limitations for child sex abuse claims. Since October, five have been filed against the private McDonogh School in Owings Mills. Most of them, including two suits filed last month on behalf of 13 former students, centered around alleged attacks by former dean Alvin J. Levy. Levy was indicted in 1992 on sexual abuse charges from a McDonogh graduate but died before his scheduled trial. Have a news tip? Contact Luke Parker at lparker@ 410-725-6214, on X as @lparkernews, or on Signal as @parkerluke.34.
CBS News
14-03-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Community activists to protest ICE outside Baltimore City federal building
Community activists are set to protest immigration and customs enforcement outside the George H. Fallon Federal Building in Baltimore City on Friday afternoon. In a social media post, the Free State Coalition said it would hold a peaceful protest "against the unlawful and inhumane detainment of immigrants in Baltimore City." The protest comes amid local frustrations with the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration enforcement. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Free State Coalition (@freestatecoalition) Maryland communities pushback against ICE crackdown Immigrant communities in Maryland have reported being fearful amid President Donald Trump's push for mass deportations. This week, the Baltimore County Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution to increase protections for immigrant students. The measure states that immigrant students have the right to access Baltimore County Public School (BCPS) programming in school and throughout the district. Amid the immigration crackdown, some students have been fearful of attending school, preventing them from accessing education programs and services. The resolution comes after a teacher at Overlea High School was placed on administrative leave for allegedly posting on social media that he would expose his students who attended an immigration justice rally. In February, the immigration advocacy organization CASA expressed its support for proposed legislation that would protect immigrant communities in Maryland. The proposed Maryland Data Privacy Act is a bill aimed at protecting immigrants' personal information from federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The bill, if passed, would prohibit ICE agents from accessing Marylanders' personal data held in state databases without a warrant issued by a state or federal judge. Another proposed bill, the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act, would require the Maryland Attorney General to develop guidelines for immigration enforcement at sensitive locations such as schools, healthcare facilities, and places of worship. A third bill, the Maryland Values Act - which has yet to be filed, aims to add state collaboration with ICE. State leaders challenge federal immigration crackdown In January, Maryland joined 11 other states in a legal challenge to President Trump's immigration initiatives, following warnings from the Department of Justice that non-compliant state officials could face investigation. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown issued guidelines to county and state law enforcement agencies clarifying that officers cannot inquire about immigration status during routine police work. The guidelines also prohibit sharing immigration information with federal authorities without a warrant and ban contracts with private immigration detention facilities.
