(UPDATED, 2:06 p.m. Wednesday, with statement from Kuna School District.)

The Kuna School District faces an $8 million tort claim over a reported in-school sexual misconduct incident.

Meanwhile, the Twin Falls-based Xavier Charter School faces a separate $5 million tort claim. A former student at the school, a special education student, says he was a victim of repeated acts of “unlawful sexual activity and abuse,” involving an older female student.

The two claims — which Idaho Education News obtained from the Idaho secretary of state’s office through a public records request — mean Kuna and Xavier each face the prospect of multimillion-dollar civil lawsuits.

A tort claim is not a lawsuit, but it a necessary precursor to one. A plaintiff must file a tort claim before suing a public entity.

According to an Idaho Education News search of online court records, no civil lawsuits have been filed against Kuna or Xavier.

Here’s a rundown of the tort claims.

The Kuna claim

The claim stems from a reported incident at Silver Trail Elementary School on Jan. 10.

According to the claim, a known school bully groped another student’s penis. “Claimant’s parents had complained of (the) bully’s abusive and harassing behavior before, but (the) school failed to take action,” the claim says. “The bully had previously also engaged in sexual misconduct with female students at the school … (but) the school didn’t take appropriate action to prevent the bully from engaging in sexual misconduct again.”

An attorney pressing the case says Kuna expelled the alleged victim “since the school did not want to remove the bully.” When the family reported the groping incident, he says, Kuna officials determined the family lived outside district boundaries, and Silver Trail was too crowded to take on additional students.

“Kuna wrongfully expelled Claimant in retaliation against Claimant’s parents’ complaints,” Casey Barkhordarian, a Los Angeles-based attorney representing the family, wrote in an April 8 letter to the district.

The tort claim and the subsequent letter both say the alleged victim has suffered and will continue to suffer from insomnia, crying, social isolation, eating difficulties, racing thoughts, anxiety, low confidence, post-traumatic stress, severe emotional distress, “and other emotional distress and damages.”

The Kuna district issued a statement Wednesday afternoon.

“We can confirm that district and school officials took the matter seriously and conducted a thorough investigation in collaboration with local law enforcement and parents,” the statement read, in part. “The safety and well-being of our students remain our top priority, and we are committed to maintaining a safe learning environment for all.”

The tort claim named the Kuna School District, the Idaho Department of Education and the State Board of Education as potential defendants. The state’s Department of Administration has denied the claim against the two state agencies, but that does not affect the claim against Kuna.

Kuna district officials did not receive a copy of the Feb. 21 tort claim, spokeswoman Allison Westfall said, but received Barkhordarian’s April 8 letter. The Kuna district referred this letter to its legal counsel and insurance carrier, Westfall said.

Kuna provided a copy of the April 8 letter after EdNews filed a public records request. EdNews filed a second request for any responses to the letter. The district says it has sent no response, and its insurance carrier hasn’t responded either. The district says responses from its counsel would be exempt from disclosure, due to attorney-client privilege.

Barkhordarian did not respond to emails from EdNews.

The Xavier claim

The Dec. 11 tort claim centers on about 100 reported acts of sexual abuse, which were said to occur every school day during the first few months of 2023.

The claimant says a female classmate engaged him “in a variety of inappropriate sexual activity.” Most of the sexual acts occurred on a school bus. Others occurred on school grounds. The female student was 17. The male student was 14 and, by law, “did not have the capacity to consent to sexual activity,” the claim says.

The case worked its way through juvenile court.

According to the claim, the Twin Falls Police Department investigated the case and referred it to the county prosecutor’s office. Prosecutors charged the female student with lewd conduct with a minor, according to the claim. The student agreed to “certain conditions, including counseling,” and prosecutors accepted this diversion strategy in lieu of a sentence.

Twin Falls police declined to comment. In an email, Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs said the tort claim is accurate “to an extent.” He said the male student’s family agreed to the diversion plan, but said the female student failed diversion “ and is back before the court as an active case.”

According to the tort claim, school officials failed to protect the former male student from “foreseeable sexual harm” and failed to alert his parents to the situation. The student has suffered damages including attempted suicide, depression, substance abuse and emotional distress, the claim says.

Xavier Head of Schools Gary Moon declined comment on the tort claim.

More reading: Parents file a $50 million child sexual abuse tort claim against the Boise School District.