NC courts asked to intervene in Raleigh elementary school’s bullying dispute
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Parents filed lawsuit over Wake school board's decision labeling bullying.
- Board overturned administrators, citing sufficient evidence of harassment.
- Lawsuit claims violation of due process and seeks to expunge suspension record.
A new lawsuit challenges the Wake County school board’s ruling that a Raleigh elementary school student bullied a classmate by allegedly calling him names and making fun of his clothing.
A family at North Ridge Elementary School in Raleigh accuses the Wake school board of acting arbitrarily when it overruled the principal and an area superintendent to say their child violated the district’s bullying policy. The parents want a judge to throw out the board’s decision because it could lead to a suspension that goes on his school records.
“The Wake County Board of Education made a disciplinary finding against Petitioner that could result in the imposition of a long-term suspension in violation of constitutional provisions, North Carolina law, and of Wake County Board policies and procedures,” according to the lawsuit filed Sept. 10 in Wake County Superior Court. “Insufficient evidence exists to support a finding that Petitioner engaged in bullying or harassment in violation of Board Policy.”
Meredith Hubbard, the attorney for the student’s parents, declined The News & Observer’s request for comment.
The Wake County school system declined comment, citing that the litigation is pending.
The N&O was unable to reach the parents of the student who say their child was bullied.
The lawsuit highlights the challenges of handling complaints about bullying in schools. Bullying is reported more often by students in middle schools and high schools, but is not uncommon in elementary schools.
The allegations of bullying
The student accused of bullying is identified as W.H.W. in the lawsuit. Last school year, he was a fourth-grade student at North Ridge Elementary when the parents of another fourth-grade student, identified as C.S., accused him of bullying their son.
The allegations led to North Ridge Principal Travis Shillings launching an investigation.
“During my interview with students it was shared that there had been multiple times in the past year and half that (W.H.W.) made fun of his clothes, called him (them) names such as stupid, special ed,” Shillings wrote in a December email to the mother of W.H.W. that is included in the lawsuit.
Northern Area Superintendent Chris McCabe provided additional details of the allegations in a letter included in the lawsuit.
“These allegations included being excluded from activities at school and online, being verbally taunted, called names and put down, being spoken about unkindly to other students and encouraging other students to ignore/exclude (C.S.), being retaliated against for reporting the behavior of other students, and being threatened,” McCabe wrote in a January letter to the parents of C.S.
Did the actions constitute bullying?
Under Wake’s policy, harassment or bullying behavior is any pattern of gestures or written, electronic, or verbal communications, or any physical act or any threatening communication that:
- Places a student or school employee in actual and reasonable fear of harm to his or her person or damage to his or her property; or
- Creates or is certain to create a hostile environment by substantially interfering with or impairing a student’s educational performance, opportunities, or benefits or by adversely altering the conditions.
Shillings said his investigation didn’t find a “preponderance of the evidence” to support a finding that the conduct constituted bullying.
“However, this conduct was inappropriate and inconsistent with other Board policies,” Shillings wrote.
The parents of C.S. appealed Shilling’s decision, which was referred to McCabe.
McCabe told the parents of C.S. that he agreed the behavior of W.H.W. was inappropriate. But McCabe upheld Shillings’ decision.
In the letter, McCabe said the school had taken “appropriate actions” such as offering C.S. a class change for the rest of the school year. McCabe said he also directed North Ridge to keep W.H.W. and C.S. in different classes for the 2025-26 school year.
School board reverses school decision
The parents of C.S. took the appeal further to the school board. A three-member board panel met in February and reversed the decision made by Shillings and McCabe.
“The Board panel finds that substantial evidence exists in the record to support a finding that the actions in this matter did rise to the level of bullying as defined in Board Policy 1710,” according to a March 4 letter written by school board member Sam Hershey to the parents of C.S.
The board sent the matter back to North Ridge and directed Shillings to consider the “appropriate consequences.”
Bullying is considered a “Level II” offense in Wake’s Code of Student Conduct. That means violations generally warrant a short-term suspension of up to five days from school. But it can be increased to a short-term suspension of 6 to 10 days or a long-term suspension of 11 or more days if there are “aggravating factors.”
“The Board would like to emphasize that it always takes reports of bullying and harassment seriously and will continue to work on maintaining a safe and secure environment for all Wake County students, including (C.S.),” Hershey told the parents of C.S. “The Board appreciates your advocacy on behalf of your child in this matter
Parents want bullying decision removed from records
The parents of W.H.W. say they didn’t even know that the parents of C.S. had appealed the school’s decision until March 14. At that point, the lawsuit says, they were informed of the board’s decision and that any additional consequences would become part of their son’s student records and discipline file.
The parent appealed the board’s decision. At their request, it was heard by the same panel that had decided bullying had occurred.
Following a hearing in August, the board panel upheld its decision. In a letter to the parents of W.H.W., Hershey said additional disciplinary action could result from their decision.
The parents of W.H.W. want a judge to throw out the board’s decision and to expunge the disciplinary action from his student record.
The family says their son’s rights were violated because they weren’t given a chance to participate in the board’s February hearing alongside the parents of C.S. They said that it prejudiced the board against their son.
“The Wake County Board of Education’s decision to apply the code of student conduct and/or Board Policy to Petitioner under these circumstances deprived him of his due process right, guaranteed to him under the United States and North Carolina constitutions, to notice of the conduct for which he/she could be subject to school discipline,” the lawsuit says.
This story was originally published September 16, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
