School Board Rejects $750,000 Settlement Offer

    The 14-year-old daughter of Billy and Tonya Burkette was removed from the 9th grade at Central High School last August 20th, three days after school began.  The family then filed suit to allow her to return to school.  After the student had missed more than seven weeks of school, District Court Judge Todd Hernandez ordered the Central Community School System to allow her back into the ninth grade.
    The student’s father, Billy Burkette, represented by attorney Jill Craft, says that the School System has failed to take the steps needed to repair the damage done to his daughter’s education and that she failed classes in the fall semester.  Burkette says he feels he gave the school system an opportunity to do the right thing, and that his only remaining option is to request financial damages.
    In a closed executive session of Monday’s School Board meeting the School Board received and discussed the settlement offer.  Mr. Burkette states that the offer was for $750,000 and that it was not accepted by the School Board.  The family’s attorney advised that the offer is on the low end of settlements in cases such as this.
    Reached for comment, Superintendent Faulk stated that the student has access to the online credit recovery program, as does every student who falls behind.  Faulk said that he has informed the School Board of the matter and that it is up to the family as to whether there will be any further legal action.
    Mr. Burkette explained that all three of his children have attended Central’s schools beginning in 2008, and that two are CHS graduates.  He shared that at the end of his daughter’s 8th grade year he provided all of the documentation required by the school system for his daughter to move up to the high school.  Then last fall he was again required to produce the same documents at the beginning of school.  His daughter was issued a school ID, a laptop, books, and a schedule, and the school accepted his payment of fees.
    According to court documents Superintendent Faulk testified that the Burkettes had in fact submitted all of the necessary documents in a timely fashion.  Court documents further state that the school system expelled the student “because of information they uncovered in their own investigation and because of the word on the street was that they were not actually living [in the school district].”  Judge Hernandez ruled that the preponderance of the evidence proved that the student does reside in the school district.