Civil rights lawsuit filed against North Penn School District over 2024 Stanley cup assault

A federal civil rights lawsuit filed this week accuses the North Penn School District and one of its administrators of failing to protect a Pennbrook Middle School student who was “savagely and viciously beaten” by a classmate in April 2024.

The complaint, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, names the district and Director of Special Education Megan McGee-Heim as defendants. 

It was filed on behalf of the 12-year-old victim, identified only as V.T., through her parents, and represented by the law firm Timoney Knox LLP.

The 40-page filing alleges that district officials violated the student’s Fourteenth Amendment rights by “creating or enhancing a danger” that led to her injuries. 

Attorneys claim the district acted with “deliberate indifference” when it placed the alleged attacker — described as a 7th-grade student with a “well-known and well-documented history of violent behavior” — into the general education population at Pennbrook Middle School despite knowledge of prior aggression and threats toward other students.

The suit says the attack occurred on April 17, 2024, after multiple students and parents allegedly warned school staff about threats and a “hit list” naming potential victims. The complaint recounts that V.T. was struck repeatedly in the head with a steel Stanley-brand cup and slammed into a cafeteria table, suffering a concussion, lacerations, and long-term trauma.

According to the filing, school employees were told of the threats in the two days before the assault but failed to act, instructing the victim to return to class. On the day of the incident, the district allegedly brought the assailant into the cafeteria “without adequate supervision” and permitted her to carry the steel tumbler later used in the attack.

The complaint includes counts against the district and McGee-Heim for violating federal civil rights law under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, asserting “state-created danger,” and adds a separate Monell claim alleging the district failed to train or supervise its employees properly. 

It seeks compensatory and punitive damages, attorney fees, and a jury trial, according to the complaint.

North Penn School District acknowledged the litigation Friday, stating: 

“The North Penn School District is aware of a recently filed civil lawsuit relating to an incident that occurred at one of our middle schools in April of 2024. It is not the practice of the district to provide comment on active litigation regarding student matters. We are respectful of the legal process and expect that future proceedings will address any of the allegations that are in dispute.” 

The April 2024 assault at Pennbrook Middle School sparked intense public criticism during a subsequent school board meeting, where students and parents alleged that staff ignored repeated warnings about the attack. 

Superintendent Todd Bauer told families the day after the incident that the event was “deeply disturbing” and that “such behavior has no place in our schools.” 

According to the lawsuit, the student accused of the attack was later charged in juvenile court and withdrawn from school, and McGee-Heim was allegedly disciplined or terminated by the district following an internal investigation.

School safety data: Comparing North Penn’s three middle schools (2023–24)

According to Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Safe Schools reports and data collection by the Civil Rights Data Collection Office for Civil Rights:

• Pennbrook Middle School reported 77 total incidents, with 12 involving law enforcement and no arrests. The rate of incidents per 100 students was roughly 10.2.
• Penndale Middle School had 101 total incidents, 13 involving law enforcement, and no arrests. That equates to about 8.4 incidents per 100 students.
• Pennfield Middle School logged 75 total incidents, four referred to police, and one arrest, for about 8.0 incidents per 100 students

Across the district, violent or aggressive behavior was the top-cited infraction type, with fighting, harassment, and bullying together making up about one-third of total incidents. Weapons violations were rare: one at Pennbrook, one at Pennfield, and none at Penndale.

Suspensions and expulsions

None of the three schools recorded expulsions in 2023–24. Out-of-school suspensions were common responses, especially for violence-related incidents:

• Pennbrook: 39 suspensions for violence and 22 for conduct-related offenses
• Penndale: 44 violence suspensions and 40 conduct suspensions
• Pennfield: 31 violence suspensions and 37 conduct suspensions

Districtwide, none of the middle schools reported serious injuries to victims, and there were no expulsions for drugs, tobacco, violence, or weapons across grades, according to the reports.

Demographics and disparities

According to PDE offender data:

• At Penndale, 34% of offenders had an IEP, and 43% identified as Black or Hispanic
• At Pennbrook, 29% of offenders had an IEP; most were White (51%), followed by Asian (16%) and Black (15%)
• At Pennfield, 22% of offenders had an IEP, with White students comprising about 48% of total offenders and Black and Hispanic students combined for 33%

OCR Civil Rights data corroborate that referrals to law enforcement disproportionately involved students without disabilities and students of color — trends consistent with national averages.

Overall district comparison

Across all three middle schools, North Penn School District reported a combined 253 incidents (excluding minor infractions) for about 2,900 students, yielding roughly 8.7 incidents per 100 students — slightly below the statewide middle-school average of 10.3 per 100.

However, the share of cases involving police contact (10%) was higher than the Montgomery County average (6%), suggesting a more frequent law enforcement response to school incidents in the district.