Parents of student who drowned at Whiteland high school file federal lawsuit

The parents of a student who drowned in Whiteland Community High School’s pool after a seizure have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit.

Kyle and Victoria Dildine, the parents of 15-year-old Alaina Dildine, are suing Clark-Pleasant Community School Corp., Whiteland Community High School, Superintendent Tim Edsell, former physical education teacher Jana Huffman and former instructional assistant and lifeguard Patrick Schaler seeking damages. The lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges that Clark-Pleasant and its employees violated federal civil rights laws by failing to accommodate Alaina Dildine’s disability, epilepsy. The Dildines are also asserting a state law claim for the wrongful death of their daughter, accusing them of negligence.

Alaina Dildine was underwater for 52 minutes in the high school pool on May 16, 2023, until another student in the next class found her, a report from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said. The Johnson County Coroner ruled her death an accident, attributing the seizure to epilepsy.

In a statement, Kyle and Victoria Dildine said they wanted to hold those responsible for their daughter’s safety accountable. They also wanted to bring attention to the importance of school districts across the U.S. putting in place rules and policies to protect students in schools, “especially those most at risk like our daughter.”

“If this tragedy could happen in a large school district like Clark-Pleasant, it could happen anywhere,” they said.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court because the Dildine family believes what happened to Alaina Dildine was not simply the result of one person’s tragic mistake or oversight, but was instead a violation of her civil rights resulting from multiple systemic failures by the Clark-Pleasant Community School Corporation,” Stephen Wagner, the Dildine’s attorney, said in a statement.

“How could a large, well-funded school district require that a student with a history of seizures — including a seizure in PE class just the week before — swim in a public pool with no lifeguard on duty? How could school officials have no written safety rules, policies or procedures in place whatsoever?” Wagner said.

The Dildines are relieved that the school district recently released new pool safety procedures, but they want to know why many of the “recommended common sense safety practices” were not required before their daughter’s death, Wagner said.

“Complying with state law by having a lifeguard on duty, assigning students a buddy while swimming, and counting the students after they exit the pool should have been obvious to school officials. Instead, they forced a student with seizures to get into a pool without a lifeguard, failed to watch her, and then left her at the bottom of the pool for 53 minutes,” he said.

Clark-Pleasant schools, WCHS and their attorneys are aware of the “pre suit allegations,” Superintendent Tim Edsell said in a statement. They also have worked “diligently with counsel to resolve the dispute,” he said.

“Beyond that, we are unable to comment on threatened or pending litigation,” Edsell said.

Alaina Dildine had a Section 504 Plan, which is for students who have “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity such as learning, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, working or performing manual tasks.” Epilepsy is included as a disability, according to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

Her Section 504 Plan was last updated in February 2023, about three months before the drowning. At the time, her “reasonable accommodations” included seating near the teacher, extending her time to complete assignments and tests and allowing her short breaks in the classroom as needed. She was also allowed to keep a water bottle with her at all times and was allowed breaks from physical activities as needed, according to court documents.

For Alaina Dildine’s PE class, students were required to participate in a unit of swimming and participate in every class period. Failure to do so would result in a loss of participation points, which made up 90% of a student’s grade combined with skills tests and fitness tests, court documents say.

— Story continues below document —

Throughout the spring 2023 semester, Alaina Dildine experienced “frequent” seizure activity. One of the last seizures occurred on May 8, 2023 — eight days before the drowning.

During that incident, Huffman, the PE teacher, asked the school nurse whether Alaina Dildine should sit out of swimming. The nurse “encouraged” Huffman to let her do so, court documents say.

Schaler, the lifeguard, later talked to a school nurse about Alaina Dildine still not feeling well, and she was allowed to sit in the pool office to recover. She later had a seizure in the nurse’s office, according to court documents.

Concerned about her daughter having to swim for participating credit, Victoria Dildine emailed Huffman on May 11, 2023, asking if there was a way for Alaina Dildine to show participation for the days she was not able to participate. She followed up the next day, asking if there was another way for her daughter to participate in PE class without having to swim, court documents show.

The lawsuit alleges Huffman never responded.

Drowning is the most common cause of death from unintentional injury for people with epilepsy, and children with epilepsy have a 7.5 to 10 times greater risk of drowning in swimming pools than other children, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, which is cited in the lawsuit. The organization recommends parents and caregivers of children with active epilepsy provide direct supervision around water at all times and that, whenever possible, children with epilepsy should shower instead of bathe and swim only at locations where there is a lifeguard.

During Alaina Dildine’s PE class on the day she died, Schaler and Huffman were allegedly violating Indiana safety laws as they were providing class instruction and not serving as lifeguards, which meant there was not a lifeguard on duty. Schaler’s lifeguard certification was also expired, the lawsuit alleges.

The Dildine’s lawsuit also takes issue with Clark-Pleasant’s pool safety policy that was in effect at the time. The rules were posted at the pool, but written policies and procedures for teachers and lifeguards to follow when conducting swimming activities during PE classes.

Among the written policies that didn’t exist at the time of the incident were rules requiring there to be a lifeguard on duty, attendance to be taken before and after class to ensure all students exit the pool, and a “buddy system” to make sure all students were accounted for. Policies also didn’t provide for special accommodations, like special assigned lanes or different colored swim caps, for students with medical conditions or disabilities, or requiring teachers and/or lifeguards to patrol the pool after class to ensure all students have exited, the lawsuit alleges.

The Clark Pleasant School Board approved a new written pool policy earlier this month. It includes the implementation of the WAVE Drowning Prevention Systems, which is designed to prevent drowning. Specially-designed bracelets worn by staff notify them when a student is underwater too long, according to the policy.

The policy also requires a water safety instructor to take attendance at the beginning of each class, assign each student a partner and give them WAVE headbands to wear. Both the water safety instructor and the lifeguard will be equipped with whistles and WAVE staff bracelets.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 8:57 a.m. Feb. 15 with a statement from Clark-Pleasant schools.