The Justice Department is conducting an investigation of allegations of assaults at the Hawaii School for the Deaf and Blind, the state Attorney General says in federal court records.
A lawsuit filed by students at the Kapahulu public school and their parents, claiming sexual assaults and other violence by students against other students, resulted in the state agreeing last month to a $5.75 million settlement. A federal judge is scheduled to consider final approval of the class-action settlement next month.
The lawsuit claims that certain students, some of whom called themselves the “Ringleaders,” assaulted, bullied, raped, robbed and terrorized smaller and younger students on a regular basis and that a counselor had improper contact with students, letting them stay with him overnight.
The suit also contends the state failed to properly supervise students and staff and that education officials tried to cover up the allegations of sexual assault.
The settlement suggests that some students were victims as well as perpetrators of sexual assault.
The state says in court records that the attorney general has provided the Justice Department with certain materials federal authorities requested for their investigation after the department agreed not to disclose the material to any other parties.
The material being kept confidential includes a report prepared by an independent mental health examiner the state hired.
Robert Q. Pollard Jr., professor of psychiatry and director of the Deaf Wellness Center at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in New York, prepared the Aug. 3 report. It is not mentioned in the proposed settlement.
State Attorney General David Louie would not comment on the report or on the Justice Department request.
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Eric Seitz, the lawyer for some of the estimated 35 current and former students who are believed to have been sexually assaulted on the school’s campus and buses since Aug. 10, 2001, says he has been contacted by lawyers of the Justice Department’s civil rights division. Seitz said the lawyers are not happy with how the state is dealing with what happened at the school and the steps it is taking to prevent a recurrence.
The settlement requires the state to assess whether existing security cameras on campus are installed in the most effective locations and whether broken ones need to be repaired or replaced; explore the possibility of installing cameras in school buses; and provide training for bus drivers and aides.
The state will also have to hire more personnel as needed and the school will have to come up with a plan to include issues such as bullying and harassment in its curriculum.
Seitz says the civil rights division has sole jurisdiction for enforcing the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act and for investigating rights violation claims in agencies that receive federal money.
The Hawaii School for the Deaf and Blind receives federal grants under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to provide free, appropriate public education to children with disabilities.
The school has students in kindergarten through grade 12, some of whom live in the on-campus dormitory, and is the only public school for deaf and blind students in the state.
