Lawsuit: CCSD student faced racially motivated attacks for 2 years

A mother is suing the Clark County School District over allegations that it failed to protect her son from racially motivated verbal and physical assaults for two school years.

Jessica Orta, represented by the Clark Hill PLC law firm, filed a complaint in District Court last week on behalf of her elementary-aged son against the school district, some school district leaders and some staff and administrators at Adcock Elementary School.

The lawsuit claimed that Orta’s son, identified as I.B. in the filing, experienced repeated race-based bullying and harassment incidents from his classmates that created a hostile learning environment. The complaint also alleged that school district leaders and Adcock employees did not properly report the bullying and failed to create an adequate safety plan for I.B., increasing the likelihood that more attacks would occur.

“Defendants, who were charged with ensuring a safe learning environment from race-based discrimination, acted inadequately and with deliberate indifference,” the lawsuit claimed. “Defendants’ deliberate indifference directly and proximately caused I.B. significant damages.”

The lawsuit describes I.B. as a half Asian American and half African American boy with a “dark complexion.”

In an emailed statement Tuesday, the school district said it does not comment on pending litigation but is “committed to providing a safe and respectful learning environment for all students and educators.”

Series of alleged race-based attacks

The lawsuit detailed two alleged incidents where I.B. faced racially charged physical or verbal assaults from other students after leaders at Adcock Elementary forced him to confront his aggressors. Although Orta repeatedly informed school leadership of the various race-based attacks against her son, the complaint claimed, staff and administrators did not properly document or resolve the situation, resulting in further abuse.

The first incident came after a group of students who had physically harmed I.B. in the past allegedly launched racially motivated insults at him during lunch on or about Sept. 21, 2023.

The complaint claimed Adcock principal Wendy DeMille, assistant principal Matt Landahl, I.B.’s fourth grade teacher and the school’s counselor made I.B. and his aggressors confront each other through a “restorative justice circle” after the verbal attacks. The lawsuit said the participants from the circle were released without proper supervision.

The second alleged incident followed a behavioral detail report I.B.’s fourth grade teacher made on Jan. 24, 2024, where he identified the student as a victim of aggressive behavior. Adcock staff required I.B. to confront his aggressors again, this time through a “meditation,” the suit claimed, after which the aggressors physically attacked him.

In April, a student called I.B. a racial epithet, the complaint said.

‘Insufficient action … to protect him’

When I.B. entered fifth grade, the lawsuit claimed he was placed in a classroom with a student who previously harassed him. Orta notified her son’s new teacher about the abuse, according to the filing, but neither I.B. nor the aggressor were placed in different classrooms.

In November, the lawsuit alleged, classmates targeted him again because of his racial features and skin color. The school’s response was to hold another “restorative justice circle,” the lawsuit claimed.

The abuse continued into 2025 when students in I.B.’s class allegedly made racially charged disparaging remarks toward him, according to the lawsuit. The students admitted to making the comments, and Adcock staff’s only response was to hold a conference with I.B., the complaint claimed.

Less than a week later, I.B. allegedly told DeMille and Landahl that a student repeated the racial epithet and encouraged other non-Black students to bully him, which the school leaders failed to address, the filing claimed.

The lawsuit said DeMille and Landahl placed morning restrictions on I.B., making him to sit in the front office in the mornings instead of letting him eat breakfast and socialize with classmates outside. The lawsuit claimed those restrictions were not placed on I.B.’s aggressors.

Orta emailed her concerns Clark County School Board Trustee Lorena Biassotti, and spoke directly to the board during public comment at a January meeting.

“My son deserves a safe and supportive education as guaranteed under Nevada law and CCSD policies, but for over a year he has endured racially motivated harassment with insufficient action from the school to protect him,” Orta said at the meeting.

In March, the lawsuit claimed, I.B. attempted to record a classmate who was antagonizing him, but was reprimanded by his fifth grade teacher.

I.B.’s family noticed a decline in his mental and physical health, his grades dropped and his therapist noted lower self-esteem and confidence, the complaint said.

On a self-assessment assignment in school, the lawsuit claimed that I.B. wrote he has no talents and that his whole class hates him. The complaint also alleged he began carrying a baseball bat around his house and to other locations as a result of the unsafe environment he experienced at school.

Contact Spencer Levering at slevering@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0253.