Parents whose son, 15, killed himself after being cyberbullied by classmates say $40,000-a-year private school refuses to let them see his records because ‘they publicly blamed staff for turning a blind eye’ to his torment
The parents of a Latin School of Chicago student who died by suicide in 2022 after experiencing relentless bullying have filed a second lawsuit against the school. The lawsuit, filed on June 5, accuses the elite private school of refusing to provide their son’s records to them, which included multiple reports of bullying. Robert and Rose Bronstein lost their son Nate, 15, to suicide in January 2022 after he was brutally bullied on social media. The initial $100 million lawsuit, filed in April 2022, claimed that the school turned a blind eye to the situation. The Bronsteins now argue it’s their right to access their child’s school records and believe that the school is withholding them to hide evidence of negligence.
‘We are entitled to our child’s school records, regardless of a loss,’ Nate’s father, Robert said to the Chicago Tribune. ‘Any parent is, and the school has that statement in their policies and in their handbook that says if a parent wants their children’s school files, here’s the department that you go to. They are refusing because, obviously, whatever’s in the school files will show their negligence.’ The new lawsuit states that the school violated a state law that requires all Illinois schools to investigate reports of bullying and notify parents of students involved.
In addition, it accuses the school of allowing a culture of bullying. There is an entire Instagram page called Latin Survivors that highlights alleged instances of bullying at the school, as well as harassment and hate speech from current and former students. The Bronsteins’ attorney, Danielle Gould, requested their son’s school records from the Latin, but the school declined to provide them, citing the handbook not being a contractual obligation. Gould emailed Latin School’s attorney, Michael Trucco of the law firm Stamos & Trucco, on April 6 to request Nate’s student records, according to the new lawsuit. Handing over student records does not necessarily require a lawyer, but Robert said that because of the pending lawsuit they requested their son’s file through counsel.
The school refused to hand over the records after more than two months of requests. The school’s handbook states that parents can examine the files by contacting the division director for an appointment. The parents argue that they have the right to access their child’s school records and are critical of the school for not providing them. ‘They don’t want us to put it out in the public. They don’t want us to embarrass them, but we’re entitled to do whatever we want with our children’s school files. They belong to us,’ Rose said to the Chicago Tribune.
‘That’s why they won’t give them to us. But if they had nothing to hide, if there was documentation that they did everything by the book and followed law, what problem do they have turning our school files over to us?’ Rose said not only her family, but all parents of students involved in the bullying were kept in the dark, according to the Chicago Tribune. ‘All parents, understandably, always have their child’s best interests in mind. A lot of the parents of the bullies in our case have expressed tremendous frustration and disappointment at the Latin School,’ she said. ‘Not only were they not informed when the school was required to inform them in December, the school didn’t inform them after our son died. Many of these people found out about their child’s involvement when our attorney contacted them six weeks later.’
In an email Thursday, Latin School said to the Chicago Tribune, ‘out of respect for all involved, we believe it is not appropriate to comment on this litigation at this time.’
