HARASSMENT SUSPENSION OF BOY STANDS MOTHER OF FIFTH-GRADER APPEALED.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer

PALMDALE -- A Palmdale mother has lost her court attempt to expunge from her son's school records a three-day suspension for sexually harassing a fifth-grade classmate.

The mother claimed that the boy's alleged offending statement did not constitute sexual harassment because it was told to the girl through another boy and that his confession was coerced because the principal told him he would call the school sheriff's deputy.

But the Second District Court of Appeal ruled substantial evidence supported the finding that the boy committed sexual harassment, justifying his suspension.

``It was an `unwelcome sexual advance' made in an educational setting. Further, coming from a classmate, a reasonable person of (the girl's) gender would consider it to be so severe as to create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment,'' the ruling said.

The appellate court ruling said the girl and two other female students were in hysterics when they reported the incident to a teacher.

The mother, who was not identified in the ruling, filed a petition in Superior Court against the Palmdale School District after the school board denied an appeal of her son's suspension. The trial court rejected the petition, leading to the current appeal.

The incident occurred in January 2002 when the boy was a fifth-grader at Palmdale Learning Plaza. He had a lengthy disciplinary history with 11 documented incidents going back to September 1998, the ruling said.

Incidents included telling a female student she had a ``hot ass,'' calling other female students ``lesbos'' or lesbians, slapping yet another female student in the face and yelling an expletive in the cafeteria.

The boy's mother challenged the suspension, claiming the boy had been improperly suspended on the basis of hearsay, and that he had been coerced and intimidated into signing an incriminating statement.

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

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