LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against Lubbock Independent School District over an incident in which cheerleaders suffered severe burns during a punishment exercise, calling the teacher’s actions “brutal and excessive” but ruling the district had already followed state law.
In October 2024, court records accused a former cheerleading coach at Evans Middle School of making a group of students perform “bear crawls” on a school track as punishment for misbehaving. The track was so hot from the late summer heat that the girls suffered second and third degree burns.
The school put the teacher on administrative leave and released the instructor a short time later.
Five parents sued the district in federal court, claiming it failed to train and supervise the staff member and violated the students’ civil rights.
Judge rules district remedied the issue
Judge Wesley Hendrix threw out the lawsuit, finding the district had already followed state law and remedied the issue. He also decided the parents’ request for the district to pay back medical bills does not fall under civil rights law.
Hendrix noted that without any injury-in-fact, federal law cannot do anything else.
Judge Hendrix dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning the parents cannot sue again.
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