The allegation is pure, mean-spirited revenge. It's how critics describe the Alief Independent School District’s nearly six-year, six-figure legal war against the immigrant parents of special-needs student Chuka Chibuogwu."For what purpose? They can't get any money from them," Alief taxpayer Bob Hermann said.
Hermann said he's followed the ongoing effort to bankrupt the Chibuogwus with mounting anger and utter frustration.
"Some adult should step in and say, ‘This is just wrong. Let’s just drop it and forget about it’," he said.
The facts: Way back in 2007, Chuka's parents objected to the way the district was educating their autistic son and fought for changes. The district said "no."
When the Chibuogwu's dropped their battle and pulled their son out of school, then Alief Superintendent Louis Stoerner and attorney Erik Nichols concocted a strategy for retribution, accusing Chuka's parents and their advisors of harassment and demanding the family pay the district's legal expenses.
"There is an honesty issue here and a harassment issue here and I think the parents have been harassed," insisted Jimmy Kilpatrick, a special-education advocate who represented the Chibuogwus.
But for attorney Nichols, the Chibuogwu case was an opportunity to test the tactics he had promoted in a legal seminar entitled "Show Me the Money" - a how to guide for extracting cash penalties from parents who challenge their public schools.
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Alief's Revenge: Effort to Bankrupt Autistic Student's Family Continues
This is what it's about --- wearing the family down financially and emotioinally. Very sad.
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