Family files federal lawsuit over Wake teacher’s assault of special-education student
A new federal lawsuit accuses the Wake County school system of negligence in the case of a special-education teacher who was convicted of assaulting two students with disabilities.
James Rencher III was convicted last week on multiple counts of assault on an individual with a disability when he was a teacher at East Wake High School in Wendell. In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, the family of one of the victims is seeking more than $100,000 in damages against Rencher, the Wake County school system and several school employees.
Neubia Harris is the Raleigh attorney who filed the lawsuit. Harris said she also plans to file a lawsuit soon on behalf of the other family of the student Rencher was convicted of assaulting.
“Students with disabilities were abused,” Harris said in an interview Friday with The News & Observer. “Their rights were violated. and now their families have to pick up the pieces.”
A district spokesperson told The N&O Wake received a copy of the lawsuit Friday and is reviewing the complaint at this time.
Anonymous letter alleging cover-up
The lawsuit only identifies the plaintiffs by their initials. C.K. is an 18-year-old student at East Wake High who, according to the lawsuit, has Autism Spectrum Disorder and is non-verbal.
Harris filed a motion asking that her clients be identified only by their initials to protect the student’s privacy.
According to the lawsuit, the student came home several days in fall 2022 with bruises on his body. His parents, identified in documents as T.K. and A.W., initially thought it was due to self-injurious behavior.
But in November 2022, the parents received an anonymous letter in the mail alleging that Rencher was verbally and physically abusive to their son and making racist and sexually inappropriate comments in their son’s presence.
The letter also charged that school administrators were aware of the situation but Rencher hadn’t been reprimanded or received any consequence for his actions.
T.K. immediately went to the school and, according to the lawsuit, was told by school officials that the letter was probably sent by a disgruntled employee and that the parents had nothing to worry about.
In April 2024, another parent reached out to WRAL, where T.K. works, and said they had received the same anonymous letter about Rencher.
Harris said her clients were “gaslit” by the district.
“If the administration had taken this seriously and conducted an investigation then, we would not have gotten here,” Harris told The N&O. “Their own employees said something was happening here.”
Teacher arrested and convicted of assault
In June, Rencher was charged with 12 counts of assault on an individual with a disability. According to the arrest warrants, Rencher was accused of misconduct such as:
Placing his arms on a student’s ankles to forcibly make him take steps against his will to walk down the stairs.
▪ Gripping a student’s head with the palm of his hand “forcing the victim against his will to look down at his school assignment.”
▪ Using his hand to “forcibly grab the victim’s shirt jerking him backwards by the neck.”
In addition to the physical abuse, Harris said one of the students was made to sit in his own feces for hours because Rencher said he wasn’t going to change a grown man’s diapers. Harris said the four students in the small self-contained classroom for special-needs students endured two years of daily abuse from Rencher.
On Nov. 15, Rencher was convicted in Wake County court and received a 60-day suspended sentence, 12 months of probation and was ordered to undergo anger management training. Rencher, who taught in Wake from July 2019 to April 2024, is also no longer allowed to teach special education students.
Parents ‘heartbroken’ over abuse at East Wake High
The lawsuit says it took 602 days between the time that Wake was first alerted about the abuse before it was reported to law enforcement.
The parents say the school district needs to be held accountable for not promptly reporting Rencher’s misconduct or addressing the abuse sooner.
“C.K.’s parents were heartbroken when they received confirmation from the district about the abuse C.K. suffered while in Mr. Rencher’s care,” according to the lawsuit. “This heartbreak turned to outrage when the parents learned that at least one adult who witnessed the abuse reported it to administrators at East Wake High School and/or the Defendant District.”
The family is suing Wake, Rencher and a number of district employees. This includes Superintendent Robert Taylor, East Wake High principal Stacy Alston and A.J. Muttillo, the assistant superintendent of human resources.
Wake Schools reviewing the handling of abuse
In its statement, the district said Taylor, the superintendent, has requested that the board’s attorney conduct a comprehensive review. Wake said the review is ongoing.
Wake said Friday it has implemented several measures to address areas of concern. The measures include:
▪ Training sessions for principals on mandatory reporting requirements.
▪ Strengthening report tracking processes.
▪ Updating investigation procedures and adding additional staff to support investigations.
▪ Created and shared a new Mandatory Reporting Guide that Wake says “clearly outlines the processes for reporting to law enforcement and other outside agencies.”
“We remain committed to ensuring student safety and will continue to examine and strengthen our processes to ensure we review and respond to concerns as quickly as possible,” the district said.
‘I don’t this story is unique’
Harris said what happened to her clients is something all families should care about.
”I don’t think this story is unique,” Harris said. “I think it’s a systemic problem within the district.”
Harris hopes the incident will put schools on notice that they need to respond to reports of students being abused, especially when they’re special-needs children who might not be able to speak for themselves.
“It’s very important that Wake County and every single district is taking these complaints seriously,” Harris said. “Even if you think a disgruntled employee is making a complaint, you have to take these complaints seriously.
“You have to investigate every report of a child being abused, especially if they’re in a protected class.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2024 at 5:37 PM with the headline "Family files federal lawsuit over Wake teacher’s assault of special-education student."
