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SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECORD

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Hearing to dismiss set in bullying lawsuit against Galveston private school

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GALVESTON – A hearing to dismiss is scheduled in a lawsuit accusing a local private school of preventing bullying, according to recent Galveston County District Court records.

Counsel for Trinity Episcopal School in Galveston and its former headmaster, David C. Dearman, entered a notice of hearing on their clients’ plea of the jurisdiction and motion to dismiss into Maureen Beans’ suit, announcing the Galveston County 405th District Court will hold the hearing on Dec. 20 on 9 a.m.

Beans initiated legal action last May. She claims the defendants failed to protect her son, who is black, from racially-tinged harassment from a few students when he was enrolled from 2014-2016.

The respondents submitted their plea and motion in early August. Citing the First Amendment, they argue civil courts “should not—indeed, may not—intrude upon a religious institution's management of its internal affairs and governance” and the school is a religious institution with the constitutional right to discipline its students as it sees fit “without judicial interference.”

Galveston County 405th District Court Case No. 17-CV-0566

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