Parent sued a Buckeye school district after special needs son assaulted: court docs

Update: This story was updated in June to include information Nathan Whyte volunteered to InBuckeye about not being informed of the incident before his last day.

Lawyers representing a parent suing Litchfield Elementary School District, which provides oversight to three Buckeye schools, are closing in on a conclusion for a case where the district allegedly misled the parent about the fact another student physically abused his son.

A pretrial conference is set for June 2 to discuss the case, explore potential settlements and address matters pertaining to a potential trial.

Lawyers representing district parent Kevan Sutton claim the man's special needs son was assaulted by another student for about 25 minutes through the neglectful oversight of the district, which had a bus monitor on board, according to the complaint in Maricopa County Superior Court.

“The assault by the Unknown Student included scraping a foreign object across Mason’s face and stabbing Mason in the face with the object, repeatedly,” the court filing reads.

Representatives further contend he was not informed for another six hours that his son was injured. Upon notification, Sutton was told his son self-inflicted the injuries.

Sutton later found out weeks later that a district bus camera captured the assault.

It is unclear in the suit whether the district willingly misled the parents.

Former bus director for LESD, Nathan Whyte, resigned shortly after the incident for “personal reasons.”

Whyte contacted InBuckeye June 7 and explained he was on final vacation leave during the incident and only learned of the alleged assault through InBuckeye's reporting. LESD Records indicate Whyte tendered his resignation before the incident.

The lawsuit was filed in April, but administrative changes and changes in representation for the district have pushed a hearing date out.