Dad vs. bully school
Father of suicide girl suing
The father of New Jersey teen Adriana Kuch, who took her life earlier this month, is preparing to sue the school district for failing to address the bullying that her family believes led to her suicide, his attorney said Friday.
“We are exploring all possible legal claims arising from the tragic passing of Adriana Kuch,” William A. Krais, the attorney representing Adriana’s father, Michael Kuch, said in a statement to The Post on Friday.
“This includes possible claims against Central Regional High School in Bayville, NJ.”
Adriana, 14, died by suicide on Feb. 3, two days after she was viciously beaten by classmates in the hallway of Central Regional HS and video of the confrontation was circulated on the Internet.
“The administration’s role in Adriana’s tragic death will be brought to light, and Mr. Kuch will use every legal avenue possible to get to the truth, for his family and the community,” Krais continued.
Adriana’s death has prompted widespread criticism of the district’s reported failure to adequately address the school’s ongoing bullying issues.
Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides abruptly resigned over the weekend after repeated criticism from Adriana’s family and student protests.
Students and parents blasted the administration for failing to take action to address the bullying at Thursday’s school board meeting, the area’s first since Adriana’s death.
“[Adriana] already reported numerous reports about how she was being bullied, and you guys just sat there and did nothing,” one of the teen’s friends, Hailie Engesser, told the board in the crowded Ocean County auditorium.
‘It’s a travesty’
Several other students also came forward with their own stories of being bullied at Central Regional HS and alleged that the administration repeatedly failed to address their concerns.
Even before Thursday’s emotional display, Michael Kuch told The Post last weekend that he would not rest until the district took accountability for his daughter’s death.
“I want that entire administration gone,” he said.
The Kuch family’s apparently imminent action is not the only legal trouble facing the district this year: In October 2022, former Central Regional HS parent Rachael O’Dea filed a lawsuit against the district on behalf of her daughter, Olivia, who claims she too was neglected by administrators after being beaten and humiliated at school last winter.
“It’s a travesty that [the bullying is] continuing,” O’Dea told NJ Advance Media of Adriana’s death last week.
“There’s no accountability [from the school], there’s no changes being made. This isn’t something new to them.”