Parents of a fifth-grader at a Los Angeles private school are suing the institution after their son was expelled for sending emails with rap lyrics and water gun emojis to his friend.
The parents of a 10-year-old boy enrolled at Curtis School have filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court to overturn the expulsion. They alleged that the school’s principal, Meera Ratnesar, unfairly punished their son without evidence that his email exchanges violated school policy.
‘[The] decision to deport [the student] and banning him from campus is arbitrary and capricious,” the lawsuit said.
‘[The school] did not make their decision based on any evidence of a violation of a school rule, and [the school] do not identify any student conduct policy that petitioner has violated.”
Curtis School is an upscale $38,021-a-year primary school on Mulholland Drive that has taught several famous students, including the children of Victoria and David Beckham.
The parents of a 10-year-old boy enrolled at Curtis School have filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court to overturn his expulsion.
They say principal Meera Ratnesar (pictured) unfairly disciplined their son without evidence that his email exchange violated school policy
Court documents viewed by DailyMail.com show that the boy and his classmate exchanged emails on September 5 that included lyrics from the chorus of YNW Melly’s 2018 rap song ‘Murder on My Mind’.
The friend said, “Wake up in the morning I have.” The boy replied, “Murder in my mind.”
The boys then sent each other emails with the various weapons mentioned in the song, including AK-47s, MAC-11, Glocks and .9s.
More than two weeks later, on September 25, the students emailed each other during their shared first period math class and sent several squirt gun emojis.
The next day, the boys attended the school’s annual fair on the Santa Monica Pier together, according to the lawsuit.
On September 30, the boy was called into a meeting with the 3rd through 5th grade principal and his classroom teacher to discuss his emails, but court documents say the boy was not shown the specific emails .
The director of grades 3 through 5 allegedly told him the emails would result in the loss of his technology privileges.
Then on October 1, the boy’s parents were summoned to a meeting with Ratnesar, who told them that their son had been expelled from school and barred from campus.
According to the lawsuit, the friend was not disciplined for the emails.
The boy’s parents said he has had no history of disciplinary action in the four years he has been enrolled.
They said they asked Ratnesar to provide the specific policy their son violated, but she did not answer that question.
The parents also emphasize that the behavior is not cyberbullying because the other student did not feel threatened and they are friends.
The Curtis School Parent and Student Handbook states, “Cyberbullying is the term applied to bullying that occurs over the Internet or via email, text messaging, or similar technological means of communication.”
‘Cyberbullying includes sending or posting harmful material or engaging in other forms of social aggression.’
Pictured: Lyrics from the chorus of YNW Melly’s 2018 rap song “Murder on My Mind”
Rapper YNW Melly (pictured), whose real name is Jamell Demons, is currently facing a new trial in Florida for the double murder of two of his friends
DailyMail.com contacted the family’s attorney and the Curtis School for comment.
Rapper YNW Melly, whose real name is Jamell Demons, is currently facing a new trial in Florida for the double murder of two of his friends.
In July 2023, a mistrial was declared due to a deadlocked jury. The new trial is scheduled for September 2025 NBC Miami.
Demons is accused of killing his two friends Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr. in October 2018 – the same year his song Murder on My Mind was released – and conspiring to make the crime look like a drive-by shooting.
