Bellingham Public Schools settles lawsuit over sexual harassment reporting
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Bellingham Public Schools settled a Title IX lawsuit over harassment response.
- The student withdrew in 2022 after repeated incidents and alleged staff inaction.
- District policies were found outdated; no settlement details were publicly released.
A former Options High School student and her parents have reached a settlement with the Bellingham School District over its alleged mishandling of the student’s sexual harassment.
The family, who used only their initials in legal documents to protect their privacy, filed a lawsuit in federal court on March 24 accusing the district of negligence and violations of Title IX. According to court documents, the student was repeatedly sexually harassed by another student in fall 2022, and the school district “had the opportunity, but failed, to take reasonable, prompt, and effective remedial or preventive measures.”
Bellingham Public Schools spokesperson Dana Smith said the district and the student reached an “amicable settlement.” She declined to say whether the district admitted to any wrongdoing.
“Out of respect for the privacy and dignity of those involved, we decline to comment further on the settlement,” Smith said. “We remain deeply invested in improving our proactive approaches and responses toward any type of harassment, intimidation, or bullying. That work is continuous, and we emphasize our commitment to that work and to our students and community.”
An attorney for the family said she could not comment “except to say that the matter has resolved, and the parties agreed to dismiss the lawsuit.” The settlement was reached outside of court, and no public documents were filed. The lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed Friday.
It’s not the first lawsuit to arise out of allegations of mishandling of sexual assault and harassment by Bellingham Public Schools.
In October the district settled a federal lawsuit brought against them by a former Squalicum High School student who alleged that three district administrators failed to protect her from repeated sexual assaults. The settlement stipulated that “neither party admits fault or liability for the claims in the lawsuit,” according to previous reporting by The Bellingham Herald.
What happened?
According to the lawsuit, the student, then in 10th grade, made a report to the assistant principal at Options High School on Oct. 4, 2022 following another student making unwanted sexual advances over text, intimidating her and physically assaulting her.
Kevin Terpstra, assistant principal at Options High School at the time, allegedly did not inform the student of the district’s sexual harassment procedure or policy, or of her right to file a formal complaint. He also did not notify the district’s designated Title IX coordinator, according to court records.
The two students signed a no-contact agreement, the lawsuit states, but the boy continued to harass the plaintiff. The student and her parents filed a second complaint one week later with Terpstra, who now serves as interim principal at Kulshan Middle School, and Keith Schacht, who they identified as the harassment, intimidation and bullying coordinator. Schacht does not currently appear in the district’s staff directory.
The lawsuit alleges that neither Schacht nor Terpstra initiated sexual harassment procedures, alerted the “appropriate designated official” or told the student about her right to file a Title IX complaint.
The other student continued to violate the no-contact agreement, and the lawsuit alleges that Terpstra was dismissive each time the plaintiff reported an incident. It reached the point that Options High School was “so hostile for (the plaintiff) that she could no longer attend,” according to court documents. She withdrew from the school in November 2022.
The superintendent’s office opened investigations into the sexual harassment claims and determined in late January 2023 that the district’s sexual harassment policies and procedures were out of date.
As the investigative — and, later, appeals process — proceeded, the student was “retraumatized and made to question her own sanity repeatedly,” according to legal documents.
She and her parents asked for monetary damages from the district in the lawsuit over its “botched administrative response” to sexual harassment allegations. No specific monetary amount was requested, and no details about the amount of the settlement were provided by any involved parties.