I guess suicide is rampant in IUSD too. 
Irvine family seeks lawsuit against school district after son's suicide
July 30, 2015 Updated Aug. 1, 2015 6:00 p.m.
IRVINE ? As a high school freshman, Tyler Kirkland went online and posted messages about killing himself.
On the first day of his sophomore year at Irvine High School, after he was ?bullied and harassed throughout the entire school day, just as he was the previous school year,? 14-year-old Tyler left campus, locked himself in the bathroom at his grandparents? home and shot himself in the head, according to a court petition filed by his parents.
Darrell and Kristi Kirkland allege that their only son was driven to suicide on Sept. 2, 2014, after being subjected to ?intense verbal and physical bullying by his classmates,? according to the court documents. They allege the Irvine Unified School District did nothing to help their son, even as they pleaded with school personnel to intervene, the documents said.
In the July 22 petition, filed in Orange County Superior Court, the Kirklands are asking a judge to waive the six-month statute of limitations to allow them to sue Irvine Unified for monetary damages.
Spokeswoman Annie Brown said Thursday that the district does not comment on pending litigation.
On March 26, the family asked the district to allow them to submit a claim outside of the six-month period, which ended March 2. But in a letter dated April 15, the district denied the request.
The Kirklands argue in the petition that the district?s denial was ?improper? because the law allows a claim to be filed within a year if the person is a minor and has died. It also states that the delay stemmed from the couple?s struggle ?with intense feelings of grief and depression? after their son?s suicide.
The Kirklands allege that school personnel knew of the physical and emotional abuse Tyler was experiencing, yet failed to adequately supervise him and other students and to implement or enforce anti-bullying policies.
The harassment occurred during school hours and on campus, according to the petition. As time went on, the Kirklands ?observed their son?s well-being decline immeasurably as a result,? according to the petition.
The Irvine Police Department received calls about suicidal messages Tyler posted online in February of 2014 and notified Irvine High administrators, according to the documents.
?Unfortunately, despite their assurances, the administrators failed to provide any meaningful intervention,? the petition states.
When he entered high school, Tyler was ?a normal, well-adjusted freshman,? said attorney Jonati Yedidsion, who is representing the family.
Two days after his death, students at Irvine high schools donned blue and white in his memory.
A hearing on the petition is set for Sept. 30.
It?s not the first time that parents in Orange County have sought restitution from a school district after a child?s suicide.
In 2009, the parents of a San Clemente High School sophomore who killed himself filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Capistrano Unified School District. Daniel Mendez, 16, was found May 1 of that year in a neighborhood near his San Clemente home, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
That lawsuit alleged that administrators failed to stop ?blatant and ongoing? bullying leading up to his suicide. The family later amended the lawsuit to include the names of students who they said bullied their son.
Confidential settlements were reached with some of the teens. The lawsuit naming the district ended in a settlement in which the Mendez family agreed to drop the district from its lawsuit and the district agreed not to pursue reimbursement for its legal fees.
Irvine family seeks lawsuit against school district after son's suicide
July 30, 2015 Updated Aug. 1, 2015 6:00 p.m.
IRVINE ? As a high school freshman, Tyler Kirkland went online and posted messages about killing himself.
On the first day of his sophomore year at Irvine High School, after he was ?bullied and harassed throughout the entire school day, just as he was the previous school year,? 14-year-old Tyler left campus, locked himself in the bathroom at his grandparents? home and shot himself in the head, according to a court petition filed by his parents.
Darrell and Kristi Kirkland allege that their only son was driven to suicide on Sept. 2, 2014, after being subjected to ?intense verbal and physical bullying by his classmates,? according to the court documents. They allege the Irvine Unified School District did nothing to help their son, even as they pleaded with school personnel to intervene, the documents said.
In the July 22 petition, filed in Orange County Superior Court, the Kirklands are asking a judge to waive the six-month statute of limitations to allow them to sue Irvine Unified for monetary damages.
Spokeswoman Annie Brown said Thursday that the district does not comment on pending litigation.
On March 26, the family asked the district to allow them to submit a claim outside of the six-month period, which ended March 2. But in a letter dated April 15, the district denied the request.
The Kirklands argue in the petition that the district?s denial was ?improper? because the law allows a claim to be filed within a year if the person is a minor and has died. It also states that the delay stemmed from the couple?s struggle ?with intense feelings of grief and depression? after their son?s suicide.
The Kirklands allege that school personnel knew of the physical and emotional abuse Tyler was experiencing, yet failed to adequately supervise him and other students and to implement or enforce anti-bullying policies.
The harassment occurred during school hours and on campus, according to the petition. As time went on, the Kirklands ?observed their son?s well-being decline immeasurably as a result,? according to the petition.
The Irvine Police Department received calls about suicidal messages Tyler posted online in February of 2014 and notified Irvine High administrators, according to the documents.
?Unfortunately, despite their assurances, the administrators failed to provide any meaningful intervention,? the petition states.
When he entered high school, Tyler was ?a normal, well-adjusted freshman,? said attorney Jonati Yedidsion, who is representing the family.
Two days after his death, students at Irvine high schools donned blue and white in his memory.
A hearing on the petition is set for Sept. 30.
It?s not the first time that parents in Orange County have sought restitution from a school district after a child?s suicide.
In 2009, the parents of a San Clemente High School sophomore who killed himself filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Capistrano Unified School District. Daniel Mendez, 16, was found May 1 of that year in a neighborhood near his San Clemente home, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
That lawsuit alleged that administrators failed to stop ?blatant and ongoing? bullying leading up to his suicide. The family later amended the lawsuit to include the names of students who they said bullied their son.
Confidential settlements were reached with some of the teens. The lawsuit naming the district ended in a settlement in which the Mendez family agreed to drop the district from its lawsuit and the district agreed not to pursue reimbursement for its legal fees.
