An attorney representing three former Kapolei Charter School students asked a Circuit Court judge Thursday to reconsider his ruling in favor of the school and state in a dispute over three students who were searched following allegations of cannabis use and vaping on a field trip.
On Tuesday a Circuit Court judge sided with Kapolei Charter School and its director, Wanda Villareal, over the 2019 search.
Judge Kevin T. Morikone granted summary judgment in favor of the school, Villareal, the state Department of Education and the Hawaii State Public Charter School Commission in the lawsuit brought by the three students and their parents.
William F. Sink filed a motion for reconsideration of the court’s ruling Thursday. Sink told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the case should have gone to a jury.
“The principal cannot
molest a child, even if they are protected with a form of immunity. (Immunity for intentional actions by the state.) I think that the court thinks that that immunity to assault, battery, false imprisonment … would also apply to the principal,” said Sink. “If that were the case, you could never file a suit against any state employee, even if they acted with malice and without probable cause to do the search. I don’t think that can be the law. If indeed the court found that there was no liability, but you can’t tell from the order, then that’s a matter that should have been decided by a jury, not decided by a judge.”
On Sept. 27, 2019, the three then-juniors went on
a school field trip, and “sometime after” they were “falsely accused of vaping and smoking” cannabis on the school bus, according to the lawsuit filed in state court. On Oct. 1, 2019, the students were allegedly ordered one by one into Villareal’s office and had the door locked behind them.
Villareal allegedly confronted each about the allegations, noted the school had Instagram evidence, and asked each student to “lift up their shirts to their bra line” with the school’s vice principal and another teacher present.
Villareal was accused of grabbing “the middle portion of certain plaintiffs bra and forced each plaintiff to jump up and down.” She allegedly ordered one of the students to “pull her pants down to her knees and patted down each student at their waists, hips and buttocks,” according to the
lawsuit.
According to depositions taken in the case, one of the girls responded to questions from Deputy Attorney General Justine Hura with allegations that Villareal lied to her about getting her mother’s approval for the search.
In a response filed Feb. 21, the state claimed the search was legal, in compliance with school policies regarding smoking and cannabis, and denied the allegations made by the students.
“The court granted summary judgment to the defendants. This means that there are no disputes of material fact and that the defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Plaintiffs’ claims failed for numerous reasons, including a lack of evidence of wrongdoing. Plaintiffs have no basis for reconsideration,” according to a statement from the Department of the Attorney General.
