The father of a Kansas City, Kan., student sued the Turner School District for suspending his son because the boy had been speaking Spanish

Robert A. Cronkleton:

Lorenzo E. Rubio filed the lawsuit on behalf of his son Zachariah Rubio in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan. In it, Rubio claims that his son’s civil rights were violated when he was suspended in late November.

Rubio seeks an unspecified amount in actual and punitive damages. Among other things, he also seeks an order to prevent the school district and staff from discriminating against children on the basis of their race and national origin.

Greg Goheen, an attorney for the school district, declined to comment, saying he was uncomfortable commenting on a lawsuit that he had not seen.

However, the school district released a statement after the suspension garnered media attention nationwide.

“While the circumstances which led to this incident are unfortunate, the district acted quickly in accordance with its policies and procedures to reinstate the student within hours of the time the incident occurred,” Goheen said in the statement. “The district has further issued an apology to the student and his parents.”

Goheen said the district “takes great pride in the cultural diversity of its students, staff and community and does not prohibit students from speaking in any language other than English and has taken steps to ensure that incidents of this nature do not occur in the future.”

Rubio named as defendants the school district; Superintendent Bobby Allen; Endeavor Alternative School Principal Jennifer Watts; and Endeavor teacher Susan Serzyski and five other unnamed teachers.

Rubio also named as defendants the Turner school board.

Zachariah Rubio is a junior at Endeavor Alternative School, which the district described as a school for children who need time and attention that cannot be given in a regular high school setting.

He was suspended and sent home on Nov. 28 after speaking in Spanish at lunch and then again later in the day when talking with friends outside of class.

Watts suspended him for the following day, too. District officials said Watts told Rubio’s father that the suspension was for the boy’s speaking Spanish.

The elder Rubio took the matter to Allen, who reversed the punishment, saying it should not have happened. District officials said students were not forbidden to speak Spanish at its schools. They denied knowing of any other students suspended under such circumstances.

Kansas City lawyer Chuck Chionuma, who is representing the Rubios, said Zachariah Rubio’s constitutional rights under federal and state laws were violated when he was suspended.

“Zach was punished for being Hispanic,” Chionuma said. “He was suspended from school and lost two days of his education. His only offense was being Hispanic and speaking his native language.”

According to the lawsuit, Rubio claims that when Watts suspended him, she allegedly told him that he was not in Mexico, so he was to speak English.

“I think that is very reprehensible and should not be tolerated at all,” Chionuma said. “Clearly she was in violation of both state and federal laws that prohibit discrimination.”

Chionuma said it was not the first instance in which a Hispanic student had been disciplined for speaking Spanish in a Turner district school. Other students, he said, had kept quite because of the immigration status of family members.

He also said the Rubios decided to pursue the lawsuit to make sure that other students were not discriminated against.

“It should not be tolerated at all,” Chionuma said.

So now it is considered discrimination to expect students in the United States to speak English in schools? Just more evidence that Hispanics are not assimilating into American culture and why we should prevent their invasion of the United States.