San Marcos CISD hazing lawsuit
A family who lives in San Marcos is suing the school district. They claim coaches and administrators didn’t take a sexual assault accusation seriously, and then retaliated against them.
SAN MARCOS, Texas – A family who lives in San Marcos is suing the school district after they claim coaches and administrators didn’t take a sexual assault accusation seriously and then retaliated against them.
The district denies all the allegations.
Federal lawsuit
The backstory:
A federal lawsuit against San Marcos CISD has been filed. The suit alleges district officials ignored warnings about a hazing culture on the San Marcos High School baseball team, failed to act after a sexual assault, and retaliated against the victim’s older brother.
The Rowleys claim in October 2023, their son, a freshman at the time, was sexually assaulted in the locker room after baseball practice.
The assault was reported to police and the district about a year later when he came forward after his brother, a senior at the time, was accused of towel whipping another student in the cross-country locker room.
The lawsuit claims no one was disciplined for the sexual assault. But, the older brother, who apparently was a straight A student, had no disciplinary record, and was trying to become an EMT, was found to have committed assault and was sent to an alternative campus for 45 days and unenrolled from the EMT program.
“Here where we have the stark difference between the sanctions after a complaint, we can only conclude that it’s been retaliatory,” Attorney Andrew Miltenberg said.
The family’s attorney said this has impacted the family.
“For both brothers, the educational environment became incredibly hostile and for the parents, the community became hostile,” Miltenberg said.
They are seeking damages for emotional, educational, and reputational harm. They also want the district to correct disciplinary records and make changes to their Title IX practices.
“This district has become a real concern. The manner in which they’ve treated hazing, sexual assault, the manner in which they have retaliated against a family that complained, the lack of accountability, all of those things are very concerning. And I suspect that as the lawsuit goes forward, we’re going to find this isn’t the only incident that occurred,” Miltenberg said.
San Marcos CISD responds
“San Marcos CISD is aware of the lawsuit recently filed by a family claiming many unfounded allegations against the District. One of the allegations made is that the Board of Trustees was somehow unresponsive to the Plaintiffs’ alleged injuries. This is false. While the Plaintiff’s attorney attempted to submit a Level III Grievance, the attempt was received in an untimely manner in accordance with SMCISD’s Board Policy FNG (Local), which would have brought the matter to the Board for potential action. The Board is agendized to meet with its lawyers regarding the lawsuit at its regular October meeting.
District Administration always takes all allegations of misconduct seriously and thoroughly investigates any complaints made by parents or students, which is exactly what happened in this case.
Due to ongoing legal proceedings and student privacy protections, we are limited in what we can share publicly. However, SMCISD vehemently denies all allegations made in the court complaint. The District remains committed to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for every student.”
The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin’s Meredith Aldis
