Charter sued for 2nd 'inappropriate' expulsion

A Philadelphia charter school is in hot water again after expelling a kindergartner it says inappropriately touched another classmate's "private area."

The student's mother sued the First Philadelphia Charter School in federal court this week, charging that the 6-year-old girl was improperly expelled in May.

The suit seeks to have the girl, identified in the suit as "Jasmine J.," reinstated as a first-grader and her record expunged. It also wants the school to extend proper expulsion hearings to kindergartners.

The student's mother said that when she was called in after the touching incident, school officials handed Jasmine's school supplies to her and told her not to bring her back to the Northeast Philadelphia school.

She said the school nixed her request for a hearing.

This is the second case in which a kindergartner was expelled at the school. Last year, a 6-year-old student was expelled after also being accused of inappropriate touching when he put his hand on top of his teacher's thigh after she complained that it hurt.

A Philadelphia Common Pleas judge reversed the expulsion of the kindergartner in that case, calling it "arbitrary, capricious, and prejudicial to the public interest."