HOUSTON - A mother who wanted compensation from the Aldine Independent School District for the alleged sexual assault of her child on a school bus has again seen her case thrown out.
At a hearing in Houston federal court on Jan. 24, Judge Keith Ellison granted AISD's second motion to dismiss. He had also granted its first on July 31, leading plaintiff Latoya Monroe to file an amended complaint.
There will be no such opportunity this time, as Ellison tossed the case with prejudice.
A then-11-year-old was charged with three felony counts after an alleged rape of Monroe's son Z.S. was revealed in 2023. Monroe witnessed the crimes when reviewing footage in an attempt to locate her son's missing backpack.
The assaults had been ongoing for weeks, Monroe's ensuing lawsuit alleged. They "left an indelible mark on his emotional, physical, and psychological well-being," it said.
Monroe and community advocates then called for Aldine ISD to introduce bus aides on all school buses and wanted charges brought against the bus driver.
Her lawsuit alleged gross negligence, Constitutional violations and a state-created danger. Ellison initially found Aldine ISD and superintendent LaTonya Goffney were entitled to governmental immunity against the gross negligence claims.
After the amended complaint was filed, Aldine ISD argued there were no official board policies in a student/parent handbook that led to the rape of Z.S., refuting Monroe's Monell claim.
"There are no facts alleged to support a claim that the Board approved the handbook (or knew anything about its specific contents)," Aldine ISD's motion to dismiss said.
"But even if the handbook did constitute Board policy (it does not), the quoted language from the handbook discourages and disciplines dangerous behavior on a school bus, which negates any inference that the Board acted with deliberate indifference."
As to allegations Aldine ISD allowed unsupervised mixed-age bus rides and did not review bus camera footage, Aldine ISD said these alleged practices weren't carried out with deliberate indifference to an obious fact constitutional violations would result.
"Z.S. cannot show deliberate indifference with respect to its alleged custom to allow unsupervised mixed-age bus rides, because there are no factual allegations that suggest the district had this custom because it intended for or knew with substantial certainty that mixing age groups without a bus monitor would lead to Z.S.'s injuries," the motion says.
And Aldine can't be blamed for not reviewing bus camera footage because it can't be proven the alleged rapist knew the district would not check its own videotapes, the district said.
"Absent these allegations, Z.S. cannot show a 'direct causal link' between the alleged policy and the violation," Aldine ISD said.
The plaintiff is represented by B’Ivory LaMarr of The LaMarr Firm in Houston, plus Sheridan Todd Yeary of The Yeary Firm, in Baltimore, Md.
The defendant is represented by Alexa Taylor Gould and Christopher B. Gilbert of Thompson & Horton, also in Houston.