After suing parent for $600K, Bedford School Board reduces case to $1

The Bedford County School Board is deescalating its efforts to sue a parent with a history of hostile interactions with school staffers about accommodations for his special needs son. But an attorney for the father involved blasted the statement the board issued this week and suggested the case may not be over yet.

The board announced Wednesday that its earlier request for at least $600,000 in damages has been reduced to just $1 after the parent, David Rife, agreed to new ground rules on how he and school personnel would communicate.

Virginia school board files $600K lawsuit against father of special needs student

A court hearing in the case had been scheduled for Wednesday. That hearing was called off after the two sides indicated they were trying to resolve the dispute less formally. Court records show the case hasn’t been fully dropped.

In a news release Wednesday afternoon, Bedford County Public Schools said the lawsuit was “never about collecting money from the parent.”

“While our lawsuit remains active, as a measure of good faith, we have instructed our attorney to reduce the monetary component of the lawsuit to $1,” the school division said. “If the Communication Plan is adhered to, we intend to dismiss the lawsuit.”

The school division’s statement said its leaders remain “strongly committed to parents’ rights.”

“We strongly encourage parents to actively participate and oversee the public education of their children,” the statement said. “However, we also strongly support our many excellent educators and staff. No parent has the right to inappropriately threaten or profanely abuse educators.”

Though the school division’s statement suggested things were being worked out, Rife’s attorney, David Whitehurst, issued his own statement Thursday accusing school officials of backtracking and continuing to malign his client.

“These are unsubstantiated allegations made in their lawsuit, which we have refuted, and on which no judge has yet ruled,” Whitehurst said. “To repeat them in a public statement is a continued effort to smear and tarnish Mr. Rife and his reputation.”

Whitehurst also questioned the schools’ claim the suit wasn’t about money, saying the high damages sought from Rife caused “great stress and anxiety to both the parent and his son.”

“Their claim for damages included $350,000 in punitive damages, the maximum amount allowed under state law,” Whitehurst said. “This does not comport with a suit never being about money.”

The school board, which serves a mostly rural county located between Lynchburg and Roanoke, filed the civil lawsuit against Rife in late March, alleging the frequency and tone of his calls, emails and in-person conversations with school employees amounted to unlawful intimidation and harassment. The school system’s court filings listed several examples of Rife using profanity and threatening to call the police on staffers whom he felt weren’t taking his concerns seriously and weren’t adequately educating his son.

In response, Rife and his attorney acknowledged Rife had used “impolite” language but portrayed the school board’s lawsuit as an effort to punish a parent for “passionately advocating” for their child. Rife’s concerns about how the school was handling his son’s learning disability were partially vindicated after he filed a complaint with the Virginia Department of Education early this year. The state agency ruled Bedford school officials weren’t in compliance with several elements of the individualized education program (IEP) designed to help Rife’s son improve his reading skills. Rife filed his own legal claims against the school division asking the court to require compliance with the IEP.

The case sparked blowback locally. After news stories about the litigation were published, a Facebook page dedicated to discussion of Bedford County school issues lit up with questions about why the division felt it had to go as far as suing a parent for more than half a million dollars. Multiple school board members claimed the board wasn’t aware of the suit, according to reporting by regional news outlet Cardinal News. However, the school board itself was listed as the plaintiff bringing the case with assistance from attorneys in the Richmond office of the Sands Anderson law firm.

Whitehurst said the new rules on how Rife and school staff would interact was a joint agreement by both parties. Despite the board’s statement calling it a “communication plan,” Whitehurst said the two sides had previously agreed not to use that term.

Rife’s lawyer also pointed out school officials don’t have the final say on whether the legal fight proceeds or not because Rife has filed competing claims about their failure to comply with the IEP.

“Two days ago, we felt hopeful that things were moving forward in a positive way in this case,” Whitehurst said. “The statement issued by the board has greatly dimmed that hope.”