A fifth-grader has been expelled from one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious private schools for sending a friend a squirt gun emoji and rap lyrics, prompting a lawsuit from the boy’s parents.
The lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court came after the 10-year-old was expelled from the Curtis School for an email exchange with his friend containing squirt gun emojis and the lyrics to the YNW Melly rap song “Murder on My Mind.”
The Curtis School is an elite private independent elementary school in Los Angeles and has taught children of celebrities, including David and Victoria Beckham. The elementary school, according to The Hollywood Reporter, costs $28,760 per year.
Interior of classroom in elementary school. Row of empty desks are in illuminated room. (iStock)
The lawsuit, obtained by KKTV, alleges that the Head of School Meera Ratnesar unfairly disciplined the boy “without evidence that his email exchange broke a school policy.”
The parents of the 10-year-old seek to reverse the expulsion of the 10-year-old boy from the Curtis School along with paying the family’s attorneys’ fees.
“[The] decision to expel [the student] and bar him from campus is arbitrary and capricious,” the lawsuit said.
The boy’s parents are suing, saying the decision to expel their son from the about $29,000-per-year school was “arbitrary and capricious.” (Google Maps – Screenshot)
The documents state that the boys exchanged lyrics from the 2018 rap song, “Murder on my mind” on Sept. 8.
The friend, also in the fifth grade, said, “Wake up in the morning I got.” The boy responded, “Murder on my mind.”
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Over two weeks later, on Sept. 25, the students were emailing each other during their shared first period math class and sent several squirt gun emojis.
A school bus arrives at George Mason Elementary School in Alexandria, VA on August 21, 2023. (Craig Hudson for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
On September 30, the boy was called into a meeting with the director and his homeroom teacher to discuss the emails, but the court documents claim the boy was not shown the specific emails.
Ratnesar met with the boy’s parents and told them he was expelled and immediately barred from campus.
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The school sent out the following statement to local media outlets:
“While we were disappointed to learn about the litigation, our priority is to ensure a safe and secure campus for all of our students,” the statement said. “We are unable to comment on individual students.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Curtis School for comment.
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.
Story tips and ideas can be sent to sarah.rumpf@fox.com and on X: @s_rumpfwhitten.
