‘They’ve come after me and never helped him’: Virginia father with special needs son hit with $600K lawsuit from district

A Virginia dad is being sued by his local school board after he complained about his special needs son not receiving legally mandated services.

David Rife, a single father of a high school sophomore, is being sued for $600,000 by Bedford County Schools for allegedly harassing school staff with his communications.

“I just kept noticing things that continued to show falling behind, falling behind; and QRI [Qualitative Reading Inventory] testing just kept showing that he’s falling further and further behind,” Rife told local media. “Every time there’s been an issue they’ve just come after me and never helped him.” 

Federal law requires students with IEPs (Individualized Education Programs) to receive special education services tailored to their disability. 

Unfortunately, public schools commonly fail to meet these requirements. 

And disabled students at Staunton River High School, which Rife’s son attends, score far below their peers in almost all subjects.  

According to 2022-23 state testing data, disabled students scored 24 points lower in reading, 37 points lower in writing, 18 points lower in science, and 7 points lower in history than the average student. 

Rife eventually took his concerns to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), which found Bedford to be out of compliance with special education law, ABC reported.  

Ironically, the federal Office of Special Education Programs found the VDOE to also be out of compliance last year.  

But despite the apparent victory, Rife was hit with a $600,000 lawsuit from the district, alleging he’d used “obscene, vulgar, profane, lewd, lascivious, and or indecent language when communicating.”  

“I’ve advocated passionately for my son, but who won’t?” the single dad said in his own defense. “When you do speak up and you go and try get help because they won’t help you, they come after everything you’ve got, and we have nothing.”  

Currently, Rife is only allowed to contact two school officials via email.