Gillingham Charter Parents, Students, Teachers File Lawsuit Against Pottsville Area School District Over Alleged College Fair Exclusion

Faculty, parents, and students at Gillingham Charter School in Pottsville have filed a federal lawsuit against Pottsville Area School District for its alleged actions at a recent college fair held at Martz Hall.

Twenty-two plaintiffs have filed the lawsuit against Pottsville Area School District, including parents, guardians, students, and teachers.

Pottsville Area School District, Superintendent Sarah Yoder, and Guidance Counselors Kayla Peters and Cynthia Stasulli are named as defendants.

At that college fair held on Oct. 3 at Martz Hall in Pottsville, students and staff from Gillingham entered the building and were soon met by Pottsville Area staff – including Superintendent Sarah Yoder – and told they weren’t invited to the event.

Pottsville Area says the event was only for schools that are members of Schuylkill Intermediate Unit 29, which the school is saying Gillingham isn’t.

Gillingham says it was initially invited to the college fair but that invitation was rescinded by Pottsville Area, which said it was sent in error.

Staff and students at Gillingham say they had a “right” to be at the college fair because they’re part of a public school and they say the college fair was held in a public school and at a public building.

Once inside Martz Hall, students and staff from Gillingham began recording their interactions with Pottsville staff, including Yoder, and then posted those videos to social media. They say they faced “hostility and coercive actions” from Yoder and Pottsville Area school counselors.

“Students were refused admittance, forcefully moved, grabbed, intimidated, and blocked from speaking to college representatives. The students were threatened with arrest,” a Gillingham press release accompanying the lawsuit reads.

Pottsville Area said in a statement released to The Canary following that college fair earlier this month that invited districts were allotted a time block to speak with college representatives at the fair.

The school also said that this is one of many events held during the school day at Pottsville Area that’s not open to the general public.

Pottsville Area also said that it and Gillingham were in communication prior to the college fair regarding the invite status and that the event was not open to the public.

“It is distressing that Gillingham officials did not further communicate with the District when making the decision to cause a disturbance at the Pottsville Area School District,” that statement reads.

Pottsville further alleges that Gillingham staff and students’ “efforts were orchestrated and premeditated” at the college fair.

“Gillingham students and staff blocked other school districts from entering the event while they recorded interactions and read prepared statements. Despite numerous attempts by school officials and school police, to encourage Gillingham officials to responsibly discuss the situation in a productive fashion, Gillingham staff elected not to have a conversation but rather to continue to exhibit disruptive behaviors,” Pottsville Area’s statement reads.

In a video posted to social media and the Gillingham website on Tuesday morning, Nicolle Hutchinson, president at the charter school, said, “When they arrived, they were immediately detained and were met with hostility and aggressively confronted by Dr. Yoder, who refused to let the students and teachers to visit the information booths of the colleges and universities and trade schools.

“Dr. Yoder moved Coach Martin, who was filming and placed her hands on him as she guided him away. She frantically stormed toward a student who was filming, grabbed his arm, forced his arm down, and attempted to seize his phone. She then attempted to block students and staff from walking to the college fair booths and representatives and pushed one student back, forcefully restraining him by grabbing him on his shoulders,” Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson also says that Yoder directed all other students and college representatives at the fair to vacate the Martz Hall floor when her students “respectfully and peacefully exercised their rights and entered the gym floor to visit booths.”

She also alleges that Gillingham students were eventually allowed to visit the college booths but had to keep their phones in their pockets.

Gillingham’s lawsuit seeks relief on 9 counts against Pottsville Area School District: 

• First Amendment violation for violating free speech: Gillingham plaintiffs alleges that Pottsville Area officials banned attendance and recording of the college fair because the viewpoints being expressed by its students was controversial.
• First Amendement violation for violating their right to assemble peacefully: Gillingham plaintiffs alleges Pottsville Area officials banned its students and staff from a public forum and physically tried to remove them from said location.
• First Amendment violation for retaliation: Gillingham plaintiffs alleges Pottsville Area officials threatened to have its staff and students arrested for attending and recording the events at the college fair.
• Fourth Amendment violation: Gillingham plaintiffs accuses Pottsville Area officials restricted their movement and unlawfully detained them.
• Equal Protection violation: The plaintiffs allege that Pottsville Area officials banned their presence at the college fair because their attendance and viewpoints were controversial.
• Title VI Civil Rights Act violation: Gillingham claims the “assaults and batteries against 11 of its students and staff were “unnecessary, unlawful, outrageous, intentional, and constitute a violation of substantive due process.”
• Eighth Amendment violation for use of excessive force resulting in a substantive due process violation: Gillingham claims Yoder “used excessive force” in detaining several of its students and attempted to seize their property. Further, the plaintiffs allege “cruel and unusual punishment” on the part of Pottsville Area officials for having students walk around an “empty college fair” while other students and college reps watched from the Martz Hall bleachers and “sat, stared, and gawked.”
• Conspiracy: Pottsville Area officials “reached an agreement or understanding to violate” Gillingham’s constitutional rights, the charter school says.
• State Equal Protection Clause violation: Gillingham also claims Pottsville Area officials violated its equal protection rights by denying students the same opportunities as other public school students in Schuylkill County.

Attempts to reach Yoder and Kevin Reid, Solicitor at Pottsville Area School District, were unsuccessful at this early publishing time. The Canary remains open to hearing from them and relaying their reaction to this lawsuit as soon as possible.

Read the full lawsuit here:

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