Parent Sues MCPS for Negligence in Cchild’s Drug Use

[Howard Hartman]

The Gazette
Marcus Moore

Parent Sues MCPS for Negligence in Cchild’s Drug Use

Mother claims Einstein teacher, counselor didn’t tell her
about son’s problems after it was detailed in a class paper

Marie Mauel didn’t know right away that her 17-year-old son was addicted to drugs and thought seriously about suicide.

She didn’t even know immediately when he wrote about his problems in a 10th-grade health class assignment at Albert Einstein High School in Kensington.

Mauel claims her son was not helped right away, and as a result he had to endure weeks of suicide intervention at Washington Adventist Hospital, causing him to miss weeks of school.

So Mauel decided to sue Montgomery County Public Schools, the school board, her son’s health teacher and the Einstein guidance counselor for negligence.

In the lawsuit, filed June 7 in Circuit Court, Mauel asks for $200,000 in damages. She claims the school system and teachers had a responsibility to tell her about her son’s problems and a subsequent conversation he had with his health teacher, Meagan Schoen, and Einstein guidance counselor, Natalie Williams.

‘‘They never called us,” said Mauel, of Potomac. ‘‘They never mentioned it to the principal. They never called a doctor or the health room. This is not a safe action.”

Williams said she ‘‘would not make any comments” on the lawsuit. Schoen could not be reached.

MCPS spokesman Brian K. Edwards said he was not familiar with the case. Even so, the school system officials still couldn’t talk, he said.

‘‘I’m not going to make any comment on any potential litigation,” Edwards said. ‘‘We don’t comment on students’ personal records.”

In a response filed July 7 with the court, Williams, Schoen, the school system and the board denied any wrongdoing and asked Judge Louise G. Scrivener to dismiss the case. Their lawyer, County Attorney Leon Rodriguez, also wrote that any alleged problems Mauel’s son experienced are partially his parent’s fault.

Mauel’s lawsuit tells a different story: After Mauel’s son mentioned his drug addiction in the Nov. 14 assignment, Schoen talked with him before referring him to Williams, who met with him the next day.

‘‘I would like to quit drug abuse specifically marijuana,” Mauel’s son wrote in his assignment, included in the court papers. ‘‘I will be able to feel better about myself and my family. I will be able to sustain energy and attention level.”

During the meeting with Williams, the lawsuit claims, Mauel’s son admitted his continued use of crystal methamphetamine and marijuana. Mauel said she met with Williams in January after noticing a change in her son’s behavior. In March, her son admitted using drugs, which prompted Mauel to send him to the hospital for testing. In the suit, Mauel claims, that was when she found out he told both Schoen and Williams about his drug use.

‘‘They’re not doing enough, not talking about it enough, not offering any help,” Mauel told The Gazette. ‘‘They have a responsibility when a kid goes to the health teacher, or to the counselor, to get some help. They need to communicate with the parents. This is not happening.”

A trial date is expected to be set on Sept. 7, and a discussion on a possible settlement is expected next summer.