Huntsville City Schools said it has settled a lawsuit with the family of Nigel Shelby, a gay freshman at Huntsville High School who took his own life in April 2019.
Last year, Shelby’s parents filed a lawsuit against the district and Jo Stafford, the lead administrator for the freshman class, for civil rights violations and the wrongful death of their son. The Shelbys claimed their son was bullied because of his sexual orientation. When he went to educators for help, they said, he was ignored.
The Board of Education approved the settlement agreement during its meeting on Tuesday, March 28, according to a spokesman. It has not yet been filed in court.
The district has agreed to pay the Shelby family $840,000 under a settlement agreement, according to a statement.
Terms also include updates to the district’s policies and anti-bullying procedures, professional development for staff, conducting annual school climate surveys and continuing to implement ongoing suicide prevention efforts for students. The school district said a settlement does not reflect any admission of liability by the district or any of its employees.
“There is no amount of money in the world that could ever replace Nigel,” said Camika Shelby, Nigel’s mother. “You can’t put a price on a child. This lawsuit was about bringing change. It was about acknowledging that there needs to be change. It was about saving someone else’s child so that they don’t have to go through the horrible tragedy that I have. I hope this settlement will help bring about that change.”
The Shelbys’ lawsuit said the harassment of their son and its consequences were “predictable” given, they alleged, inadequate policies and training to support and protect LGBTQ students.
In Alabama, school districts can choose to implement policies to protect LGBTQ students on a local level. But only 3% of LGBTQ students in the state reported being in a school with a comprehensive bullying policy and only 4% of students said they were in a school with supportive trans or non-binary student policies, according to a 2019 GLSEN report.
In the same report, nearly 80% of LGBTQ students in public and private schools in the state said they’d faced at least one form of discrimination during the school year.
The Alabama state Department of Education does not have any state policies or supports in place to specifically protect LGBTQ students, officials told AL.com last year. It also does not have professional development training for teachers and staff that focus on how to support this population.
“First and foremost, we continue to extend our thoughts and prayers to Nigel’s family, friends, and school community,” Superintendent Christie Finley said, in a statement. “While we understand nothing can replace the life of a student, it is our hope that the settlement will bring a sense of peace and closure for all involved.”
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, reach out to the 24–hour National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255; contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741; or chat with someone online at suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
