CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – The family of an Albemarle County Public Schools student with autism filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on Thursday against the county’s School Board as well as ACPS’s Assistant School Division Counsel and former Title IX Coordinator Erin Stone and Chief Legal Officer Josiah Black, the family’s attorney, Lauren Baum, announced in a press release.

The lawsuit alleges that the student was sexually assaulted in class on their second day in a county high school in August 2025, that the division never reported the assault to law enforcement or Child Protective Services and that it refused to separate the victim from their assailant.

ACPS Spokesperson Jason Grant told Cville Right Now the division does not comment on ongoing legal matters.

The suit also alleges ACPS did not deliver on the supportive measures promised to the student, reduced the support that was agreed upon after the student’s therapist made a mandated report to CPS, and left the student without “meaningful instruction” or special education services for around three months.

The suit then asserts the division pressured the family by conditioning their annual IEP meeting and special education placement on them signing an agreement “to release all claims against the School Board, keep the agreement confidential, refrain from ‘disparaging’ the division, and communicate only through designated staff,” according to the release.

The suit alleges that it was Stone who stated in writing, “The process is that we need to get an agreement signed first, then your IEP team can meet.”

The complaint also alleges Stone and the school’s principal advocated for the student who committed the assault to the Commonwealth’s Attorney, who later declined to bring charges due to the burden on the assailant’s family, according to the release

Stone is also accused of telling the family the division could not provide or fund trauma therapy, which the suit said is not true. She is also accused of saying she would only report the incident to authorities after “she personally determined that an assault had occurred,” according to police.

The release also said the student has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder because of the incident and has missed around three months of school due to severe anxiety, depression and sleeplessness.

The release also said the student’s parents repeatedly reached out to Black and Stone, as well as then-Superintendent Dr. Matthew Haas, Special Education Coordinator Ruth Tapscott, and School Board members Dr. Kate Acuff, Jack Jouett representative and then-Chair, and Dr. Rebecca Berlin, White Hall representative and then-Vice Chair who is now the board’s Chair.

Despite these efforts, it was only after intervention from the Virginia Department of Education that ACPS agreed to convene the IEP team and provide the required special education.

“This family went to the people responsible for protecting their child and repeatedly asked for help,” Baum said in a statement. “The complaint describes what they got instead: a school system that kept a disabled child in class with their assailant, failed to deliver on the support promised, pulled back that support when the assault was reported to authorities, and then told the parents they would have to sign away their rights before the district would hold the meeting the law already required.

“No family should have to choose between their child’s education and their child’s civil rights.”

The lawsuit is seeking compensatory and punitive damages; an order prohibiting the division’s Title IX Coordinator from also serving as its lawyer, as Stone did with her dual roles; a prohibition on conditioning special education services on a release of legal claims; procedures to ensure employees report abuse as required; an independent monitor to oversee the compliance of the School Board with Title IX and Virginia’s mandatory reporting laws.

“We sent our child to school trusting that the adults there would keep them safe,” the family said in a statement. “When that trust was broken, we asked for help, and we were told to give up our rights instead. We are bringing this case so that no other family has to go through what ours has.”

The lawsuit comes as Stone, as well as Deputy Chief Human Resources Officer Brodie Downs and former Hollymead Principal Joe McCauley, face charges of failure to report a case of child abuse.

Stone and Downs are currently on administrative leave, and Stone no longer holds the title of Title IX Coordinator, with Jessica Cochran named the Interim Title IX Coordinator earlier this month, according to Grant. Stone is still employed by ACPS as its Assistant School Division Counsel.

The VDOE also initiated an independent review of the division on Tuesday, instructing ACPS to “hire a high-quality independent consultant that can conduct a thorough and timely review of ACPS policies, practices, and organizational culture related to mandatory reporting required by law.”

Board of Supervisors member Sally Duncan, who represents the Jack Jouett district, praised the victim and their family for coming forward.

“I’m really grateful for the courage this family has shown in allowing their painful story to become public,” Duncan wrote in a statement she sent to Cville Right Now. “This is just one example of the crisis that our school division is facing, and why I have advocated so strongly for a whistleblower process. We need a safe place for everyone to come forward with their stories. We need a full investigation to understand how these situations occurred and to hold accountable the people who allowed them to happen. Our school division is full of teachers and families who work hard and they all deserve a safe and supportive environment where they can thrive.”