Mom claims free speech, sues North East schools chief over dustup in student drop-off line
An incident in the drop-off line for the youngest students in the North East School District has prompted a federal lawsuit.
The case centers on the First Amendment and a Facebook post.
A mother is suing the school district, its superintendent and its board president in U.S. District Court in Erie ― a venue where the constitutional claims often center on prisoner concerns, police misconduct or the scope of governmental regulations.
The mother, Sara Kim, is claiming the district, Superintendent Michele Hartzell and School Board President Nick Mobilia violated her right to free speech by retaliating against her.
Kim claims Hartzell and Mobilia denigrated her after she used a Facebook post to criticize how she believed Hartzell handled the drop-off line at the Earle C. Davis Primary School, for students in kindergarten through second grade, on the morning of Aug. 29, the first day of school in 2023-24.
In the lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, Kim claims Hartzell got upset when Kim stopped her car momentarily as her two children got out. Hartzell, Kim claims in the suit, "apparently saw Kim's vehicle remain stationary while the other cars moved forward."
"Hartzell," the suit claims, "quickly exited the school doors, frantically waved her arms and yelled loudly and repeatedly to Kim to move her vehicle forward, despite the fact that Kim's children were still exiting the vehicle."
Kim responded by posting about the incident on Facebook.
"Bad news, we already got yelled at by the Superintendent," reads the post, a copy of which is attached to the lawsuit as an exhibit. "My children received their first lesson of the school year — the superintendent screams at parents with her arms in the air as a tactic to 'move the line along.'"
Suit claims School Board president played video of incident
The suit claims that the Facebook post sparked a series of events that led Kim to believe that "Hartzell and Mobilia agreed thereafter to target Kim in retaliation for expressing her opinions and refusing to give in to Hartzell's demands."
The events include, according to the suit, Hartzell unsuccessfully requesting that Kim remove the Facebook post, Hartzell complaining about Kim to Mobilia and other school directors and Mobilia showing surveillance video of the incident to "multiple patrons" at Arrowhead Wine Cellars, a business Mobilia runs in North East.
The suit claims that Mobilia's showing of the video publicly humiliated Kim and unreasonably placed her "in a false light before North East community members, creating a false impression that Kim is irrational, emotionally unstable, disruptive and argumentative."
The three-count suit seeks damages for Kim's "mental distress in the form of anxiety, embarrassment and emotional distress."
Kim's lawyer, Arthur Martinucci, of Erie, said he and Kim had no comment. The solicitor of the North East School District, Tim Sennett, also said he had no comment on the suit.
The school district and the defendants will get a chance to respond in court. U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon, who is based in Pittsburgh but hears some Erie cases, is the assigned judge.
A dispute in 'small, tight-knit community'
Kim characterizes her case as one that shows how a dispute in a small town can create widespread problems.
Her suit suggests that many people know one another in the 4,000-resident Borough of North East and its 1,500-student school district.
The suit claims Hartzell, Mobilia and the school district harmed her reputation, and the suit describes her as "a small business owner and active member" in the North East community. Kim owns Lollie, a boutique clothing store in the Shops at the Colony on West Eighth Street in Millcreek Township.
The publicity that Mobilia spurred over the incident and the video, the suit claims, "made it substantially certain the false impression of Kim that Mobilia created would become public knowledge due to North East being a small, tight-knit community, Kim's involvement in the community and the number of people that Mobilia spoke with about the footage."
At the same time, Kim's Facebook post shows how Kim criticized the superintendent in a public forum.
"You are NEVER in the drop off line," the post reads in part. "It is our teachers who brave the elements EVERYDAY to get the kids into school safely — don't make today a show and leave your office. The teachers don't need your help."
In an email to Kim — also included as an exhibit — Hartzell asked that she remove the "negative post from today."
"Possibly consider using some kind words such as, 'wow, it is nice to see our Superintendent help out,'" Hartzell wrote. She wrote that her "team always helps out on the first day of school" to ensure "a safe and efficient pick-up and drop-off."
In an email, Kim refused to to remove the post. She again criticized Hartzell about the drop-off line incident.
"You had absolutely no qualms about embarrassing me in front of other parents, faculty and children — why wouldn't I return the favor?" Kim wrote in part.
Her email concludes: "I have a feeling this won't be our last chat."
Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: In North East, incident in student drop-off line spurs federal lawsuit
