20-03-2025
Federal court to hear Gillingham lawsuit vs Pottsville School District Friday
POTTSVILLE — A civil rights lawsuit filed by Gillingham Charter School students and staff against the Pottsville School District is set to head to federal court in Scranton on Friday.
Twenty students and two staff members from the Pottsville-based charter school are suing the district, alleging that it violated their civil rights during a regional college fair held Oct. 3 in the district's Martz Hall.
The school district has filed a motion to have the suit dismissed.
The hearing is set to start Friday in the Middle District of Pennsylvania court building at 235 N. Washington Ave, with Judge Karoline Mehalchick presiding.
Gillingham Executive Director Nicolle Hutchinson has said that Gillingham students and staff who attended the fair were subjected to unnecessary force, verbal intimidation and public humiliation by Pottsville's superintendent and two guidance counselors during the event.
As a result, the students and teachers suffered emotional distress and significant injury to their reputation, she said.
The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial and financial compensation.
The lawsuit names as defendants the school district, Dr. Sarah Yoder, superintendent, and high school guidance counselors Kayla Peters and Cindy Stasulli.
School district solicitor John E. Freund III said in a recent statement that 'the complaint is rife with false and inaccurate statements. The complaint has no legal merit and the standing of many of the plaintiffs is questionable. The complaint improperly attempts to rehash old grievances over charter compliance issues.'
The college fair was not open to the public but was by invitation only to public school districts of Schuylkill IU29, he said.
Pottsville administrators have also previously denied any wrongdoing at the fair, and said Gillingham had been told not to attend.
Filing the lawsuit were Gillingham juniors and seniors who went on the trip, including some who are minors and therefore also have their parents listed as plaintiffs. The staff members listed on the suit are athletic director and physical education instructor Leonard Martin and English teacher Deidra Herbert, who were chaperones for the trip.
The suit alleges nine counts against the district, including three first amendment violations for suppressing the students' and teachers' freedom of free speech and expression by banning their attendance and their recording of the event, and infringing on their right to peaceful assembly in a public forum.
It also accuses the district of a fourth amendment violation by engaging in unreasonable searches and seizures.
In addition, it alleges that the district treated them unequally because their attendance and viewpoints were controversial, denied them due process by committing 'assault and batteries' upon 11 students and one adult, used undue force to detain several students and attempt to seize property, conspired to violate their civil rights, and treated them unequally by denying them the same opportunity to attend the fair as other public high school students in Schuylkill County.
'Gillingham Charter School students walked into Martz Hall looking for an opportunity, just like everyone else, to gather information about options for their future after graduation,' Martin said. 'That opportunity was taken away from my students, and I would love for their voices to be heard.'
