Tulsa district settles lawsuit over assault

TULSA — Tulsa Public Schools has agreed to a $35,000 settlement in a civil suit filed by the victim of an alleged 2015 studenton-student sexual assault on a district school bus.

The settlement still needs to be approved by a federal judge. The district and the Tulsa School Board admit no wrongdoing in the joint motion for settlement and have denied any liability in court filings.

The incidents in question occurred on a school bus in February 2015 and at McKinley Elementary School over the ensuing months, the lawsuit says. The school district and school board’s response was negligent and breached a duty of care, the suit claimed. No criminal charges arose from the incidents.

The lawsuit claims that the victim, a female student at McKinley, was pinned down by a male student on the school bus who pushed his privates against her, asking “How do you like this?”

The student was suspended, the suit said, but when the student returned to school he was still in the victim’s art and music classes. He later used friends to taunt the victim and taunted her at later parent-teacher conferences after being removed from the school, the lawsuit says.

The district’s response to the lawsuit said the accused male student — a special needs student — was suspended the maximum amount under the law and acknowledges that the incident occurred on the school bus.

All of this caused psychological trauma for the victim, according to the suit.

The district’s attorney, Matthew Cyran, declined to comment.

District spokeswoman Emma Garrett Nelson said the incident was reported to district police officers, per district protocol.

If approved, the settlement funds would be disbursed into an annuity or trust and would be available to the victim when she turns 18.