A 16-year-old choked a 12-year-old to the point that the younger student lost consciousness and had a seizure.
A recent lawsuit alleges a Southeast Polk school district employee watched it happen and did nothing to intervene.
It’s one of two lawsuits filed this month alleging central Iowa school districts have mishandled cases of child mistreatment. In the other, a former Waukee school employee alleges she was fired for reporting a fellow worker being abusive and unsafe toward infants at a day care center connected to a district school.
Neither district responded to messages seeking comment. An attorney for the Southeast Polk plaintiffs also did not respond.
Southeast Polk employee failed to stop assault, suit claims
The Southeast Polk lawsuit, filed Feb. 3, involves an alleged assault that took place on a school bus in November 2024. The Des Moines Register is not naming the plaintiffs to protect the identity of the alleged juvenile victim.
According to the complaint, the two youths were sitting next to each other on the bus when the older student without warning locked his arm around the younger child’s neck. The teen kept up the chokehold for nearly 40 seconds, causing the 12-year-old to lose consciousness and slump into the aisle. Moments later the child suffered a seizure before finally regaining consciousness.
The entire incident was caught on the bus’ camera system, according to the complaint — including an unnamed Southeast Polk paraprofessional who was sitting three rows behind the two but did not intervene. The complaint says the employee had an unobstructed view and, afterward, can be heard on camera saying, “I thought I saw a choke hold.”
The 12-year-old suffered “significant harms, losses and damages” from the assault, according to the suit, and the family is accusing the district of negligence, citing the paraprofessional’s failure to intervene.
The older student is identified only by initials in the complaint, which does not address what disciplinary measures, if any, the district took.
“Students deserve to be safe while in the care of their school, including on school buses,” said Nate Staudt, an attorney for the plaintiffs. “When that basic duty falls short, families are left to deal with the consequences. We believe the surveillance video speaks for itself in this case. We look forward to pursuing accountability and ensuring this does not happen to another student.”
This is at least the third pending lawsuit accusing Southeast Polk Schools of failing to address bullying or violence. The Iowa Supreme Court in November ruled that the two prior lawsuits could continue toward trial.
Child care worker allegedly fired after reporting colleague
Christine Holland’s lawsuit, filed Feb. 5, alleges whistleblower retaliation in her April 2025 termination by the Waukee school district.
According to the complaint, Holland worked at Wee Care, which is connected to Waukee Northwest High School, from 2022 to 2025. In 2025, Holland writes, she reported another employee’s “inappropriate, abusive behavior toward children,” the suit says. The other employee, identified only by initials, allegedly shouted and threatened violence against babies, causing them “extreme distress.”
The employee also allegedly put babies on fleece blankets, which Holland feared could pose a smothering hazard.
The district took no action against the abusive coworker, the suit alleges. Instead Holland and another worker who also raised concerns were put on leave the day after their reports. Within days, Holland alleges, she was told the district was recommending she be terminated over an accusation that she pulled a child’s arm and yelled.
In a letter to the Waukee School Board, quoted in the complaint, Holland denied those allegations.
“I have reported this (abuse by my coworker) and more to my direct supervisor at Wee Care NW and nothing was done, yet the allegations that were brought up about myself, I was never talked to or questioned and was put on leave one minute and fired the next,” she wrote.
Attorney Nathan Vos, representing Holland, said her situation shows the district is failing to make child safety its top priority.
“The Waukee School District should be working to protect children from abuse. Instead, it is clear they are more interested in covering up abuse by firing employees who report it to try and prevent bad press,” Vos said in a statement. “However, their attempts to silence Ms. Holland failed. We look forward to our day in court.”
Neither lawsuit has yet been scheduled for trial.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Southeast Polk, Waukee schools sued for allegedly mishandling abuse
Reporting by William Morris, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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