The family of a Northern Kentucky boy is suing the Archdiocese of Covington after they say the boy was discriminated against because of his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The boy attended St. Thomas School in Fort Thomas from kindergarten to sixth grade.
But he faced disciplinary actions throughout his time at the school, escalating to the point that he was arrested last year and charged with felony terroristic threatening.
The boy’s parents, identified in the lawsuit only by their initials, claim the boy was subject to bullying and exclusion because of behavior caused by ADHD.
Despite professional recommendations and assessments, the school failed to accommodate the boy, the lawsuit states.
In addition to the Archdiocese, the family is suing the school, St. Thomas Parish, the school principal, Kim Huser, and Father Ross Kelsch.
The family claims the school and administration violated the boy’s due process rights, inflicted emotional distress and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Laura Keener, communications director for the Archdiocese, said they could not comment on pending litigation.
Lawsuit outlines years of discipline
According to the lawsuit, the boy’s disruptive classroom behavior began in kindergarten, with the parents receiving emails from the boy’s teacher and principal.
Emails became “excessive,” according to the lawsuit, and the mother was asked if her son had ever completed a Vanderbilt Assessment — a test that evaluates for ADHD and other behavioral conditions.
Despite a pediatrician and child psychologist’s recommendation that the boy not receive the assessment, the school administered a Vanderbilt Assessment to the boy while at school, which came back inconclusive.
Upon entering first grade, the boy was given a second Vanderbilt Assessment, which diagnosed him with ADHD. He received medication, and the school was advised to make accommodations.
School officials never explained the recommended accommodations to the family, and they declined to speak to the boy’s psychologist, the lawsuit claims.
Instead, the family continued to receive behavioral complaints from the St. Thomas School.
For the next several years, the boy was bullied and constantly reprimanded, according to the lawsuit. His behavior improved once a chart system was implemented, according to the lawsuit.
But the school was inconsistent with the chart performance schedule.
At the beginning of the boy’s sixth-grade year, the principal suggested implementing the chart system again, but the parents declined.
The boy continued to be disciplined through violations and a 30-day probation that was later rescinded.
School officials told the parents their son’s behavior was age-appropriate, and not anything they hadn’t seen other children do.
But in October 2024, the parents were contacted by the school’s deputy resource officer, who instructed them to come to the office for a situation, though they wouldn’t disclose specifics.
The parents were told the boy had sent a “threatening video with trigger words in it” to two other students.
The boy was placed under arrest and threatened to be housed at a detention center. He was later placed on an ankle monitor after a psychological evaluation.
According to the lawsuit, the parents suspected “the entire ordeal was set up and orchestrated by Kim Huser and Father Ross Kelsch” in order to get the boy “out of the school for good.”
An evaluation revealed the boy was not a harm to himself or others, and the evaluating doctor said she did not understand the evaluation she was being asked to do, nor why the boy was on an ankle monitor.
He was required to wear the ankle monitor and was visited once a week by a case manager.
A court-designated caseworker was assigned to meet with him every two weeks for six months.
The boy is no longer enrolled at the St. Thomas School. It was unclear if the charges were dismissed.
The parents are seeking compensatory damages for the annual tuition of the 2024-2025 school year.
The Archdiocese of Covington manages 38 schools across Northern Kentucky.
Fort Thomas is about 85 miles north of Lexington, just south of Cincinnati.