A fifth-grade student has been expelled from the Curtis School, one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious private schools, for sending his friend an email containing squirt gun emojis and lyrics from a rap song. The parents of the 10-year-old boy have filed a lawsuit against the school, alleging that the boy was unfairly disciplined without evidence that his email exchange broke any school policies. The lawsuit seeks to reverse the expulsion and have the family’s attorney fees covered.
The Curtis School is known for its elite status and has educated children of celebrities such as David and Victoria Beckham. The cost of attending the elementary school is $28,760 per year. The school’s Head of School, Meera Ratnesar, made the decision to expel the student and bar him from the campus, which the lawsuit claims was arbitrary and capricious. The email exchange between the two boys took place on September 8, where they shared lyrics from the song “Murder on My Mind” by YNW Melly.
The friend involved in the email exchange with the fifth-grader mentioned waking up in the morning, to which the boy responded with lyrics from the rap song. The boys continued to email each other, sending squirt gun emojis on September 25 during their shared first-period math class. The boy was later called into a meeting with the director and his homeroom teacher on September 30 to discuss the emails, although he was not shown the specific emails during the meeting. Ratnesar then met with the boy’s parents and informed them of the expulsion.
The Curtis School has issued a statement to local media outlets expressing their disappointment with the litigation while emphasizing their priority of ensuring a safe and secure campus for all students. However, they declined to comment on individual students. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Curtis School for further comment regarding the situation. The lawsuit filed against the school aims to reverse the expulsion of the 10-year-old boy and cover the family’s attorney fees, arguing that the decision was made unfairly. With the case still ongoing, it remains to be seen how the situation will be resolved and what actions the school will take in response.
