Parents of a Nevada high school student at Las Vegas Academy of the Arts are suing their school district, claiming their daughter was given a "pornographic" assignment last spring. Candra and Terrell Evans brought suit against Clark County School District Superintendent Jesus Jara and other school staff members, alleging they participated in "unlawful grooming and abuse of a minor" involving "pornographic material," according to The Hill.
Controversy about the assignment has been brewing for months after Candra Evans attempted to read the material in question at a school board meeting last spring and reportedly was silenced.
A teacher created the assignment in March 2022.
A Las Vegas Academy of the Arts teacher assigned the class monologue exercises, according to The Hill. Students were to write a monologue, and another student would perform the piece for the class. The Evans' daughter, 15, was assigned a monologue that the lawsuit alleges "contained explicit, obscene and sexually violent material." Additionally, documents state that the teacher reportedly helped the writers of the monologues edit their work so would have been aware of the graphic nature of the material.
"[The teacher] helped the other student edit their obscenely violent pornographic monologue knowing that it would then be provided to another student to read, memorize and perform in front of the class," the lawsuit claims.
After learning of the assignment, Candra Evans went to the school.
According to Fox News, the lawsuit states that in April 2022, the Evanses met with a school administrator about the assignment. He seemed to empathize with them, indicating he too would be unhappy if a teacher assigned something similar to his daughter. He reportedly told the parents the issue would be handled and not swept under the rug.
Additionally, the lawsuit states that another administrator met with Candra Evans and her daughter but was less accommodating. During that meeting, the staff member "defended the obscene monologue and then blamed [the student] for reading it."
Candra Evans went to the school board with her concerns.
After meeting with officials and getting conflicting responses, the mother attended a Clark County School District meeting on May 12. Fox 5 reported that she approached the microphone and addressed the room.
"I am going to give you an assignment given to my 15-year-old daughter at a local high school. This will be horrifying for me to read to you but that will give you perspective on how she must have felt when her teacher required her to memorize this and to act it out in front of her entire class," she said.
As she began to read the passage, Evelyn Garcia Morales, a school district trustee, cut off her microphone. She reportedly said, "This is a public meeting. I ask for decorum."
Apparently, the words were deemed too inappropriate for the meeting but were allegedly OK for the classroom.
"If you don't want me to read it to you, what was it like for my 15-year-old daughter to have to memorize pornographic material, and, um, and memorize it and portray it and act it out in a class?" Candra Evans asked during the meeting.
She agreed not to read the monologue out loud but continued to address the board with her concerns about her daughter. A board member assured her that an investigation would take place, and she was promptly dismissed.
After the meeting, the mother shared the monologue in an interview with the Nevada Globe.
Candra Evans shared the monologue with the news outlet in May, saying that she believed at the time that it violates Nevada Law.
"I had never gone to a board meeting before, but I needed to because I wanted to protect my daughter and this was the first assignment that caused concern. I don't want other teachers pulled into this. I don't want to cause the school any harm," she told the Globe. "I want to protect the school, students and teachers, so I am keeping that information private. The school is amazing and so are other teachers. I don't want what one teacher did to cause any other teacher to be mistreated or the school's reputation tarnished because of what one teacher has done."
The lawsuit is asking for damages exceeding $50,000.
The lawsuit was filed in Nevada District Court and alleges that the school committed a series of violations, according to The Hill. These include violating the student's First Amendment rights, inflicting emotional distress, and negligence. The news outlet reported that the school district's lawyers have asked that the case be moved to a federal docket.
"Some people in the audience were yelling out that I was lying and what I was saying was just propaganda," Candra Evans told the Globe. "The Board told me not to engage with the audience. I am glad I went after seeing the reactions and hearing that people are proud of me for getting up there."
