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Parent sues CCSD after child went missing for 4 days in 2018

Updated July 1, 2020 - 5:24 pm

A parent is suing the Clark County School District after her child, who has an intellectual disability, went missing from her middle school campus for four days in 2018.

Nitia Hall filed the lawsuit June 25 in Clark County District Court. The district placed Hall’s child on an Individualized Education Program in January 2018 based on an intellectual disability, according to the complaint.

The IEP included a provision that curb-to-curb transportation be provided and that the student needed to be accompanied by an adult while at school “until she learns where to go,” court records state.

The girl was a 12-year-old student at Fremont Middle School in central Las Vegas on the date she went missing — Oct. 25, 2018. She was supposed to be transported home on a CCSD school bus, according to court documents. But when the bus arrived at Hall’s home, Hall’s daughter wasn’t on board.

The girl was found four days after she went missing from the middle school’s campus, according to the complaint.

She was admitted to Montevista Hospital — a behavioral health hospital — “as a result of the trauma she experienced while she was missing” and has suffered lasting trauma “as a direct result of CCSD’s negligence,” according to the complaint.

Hall’s attorney, Jerome Bowen, said Wednesday that he’s dismayed something like this could happen — “literally, a young person out in society for hours upon hours” — and noted that it could have been prevented if CCSD had done its job.

The school district said in a Wednesday statement to the Review-Journal: “We do not comment on pending litigation.”

Hall filed a complaint with the Nevada Department of Education and received a determination that violations were found, according to court documents.

Because of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the Nevada Department of Education is prohibited from commenting on the matter, spokeswoman Terri Hendry said in a Wednesday email to the Review-Journal.

The department posts complaint reports publicly on its website, but they don’t include identifying student information.

Hall is seeking at least $15,000 for “general, consequential and special damages” and at least $15,000 for “punitive damages and exemplary damages,” according to the complaint.

As of Wednesday, no hearings were scheduled, according to online court records.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.

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