A lawsuit has been filed against the Alamance-Burlington School System by a guardian for a middle school student who reportedly was repeatedly molested by a teacher.
Jill Berman, an Orange County resident, filed the lawsuit last August in her role as guardian ad litem for the Southern Alamance Middle School student, who is identified in the lawsuit only as M.G.
The lawsuit alleges negligence on the part of the former Superintendent Dain Butler and Southern Alamance Middle School Principal Matt Ritter and Assistant Principal Terran Harris
Ivan Danilo Ardila-Perez, who taught Spanish, was arrested on April 26, 2023, and charged with two counts of indecent liberties with a student and two counts of indecent liberties with a child. After his arrest, at least five more Southern Alamance Middle School students — ranging in age from 11 to 13 — came forward and spoke with Alamance County Sheriff’s Office detectives regarding their interactions with Ardila-Perez, officials said at the time.
The lawsuit alleges that during the spring of 2023, a number of girls, including M.G., spoke with Ritter and Harris about Ardila-Perez being overly “grabby” and “touchy.”
The lawsuit says that during school hours Ardila-Perez groped M.G. during, rubbing her panty line and buttocks, cupped her breasts, placed his hands between her legs and tried to kiss her.
M.G. and other girls requested to be transferred out of Ardila-Perez’s class, but “even after the disclosures of the students to Principal Ritter and assistant Principal Terran,” the school system took no action, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit alleges that the “willful and deliberate indifference” to Ardila-Perez’s inappropriate behavior denied M.G. her constitutional right to a sound basic education and states that ABSS failed its constitutional duty to provide a safe environment for all of its students.
During a May 1, 2023, press conference, Butler defended the school system.
“We have strict policies and procedures in place to ensure that all of our teachers are properly vetted before they are allowed to work with our students,” Butler said. “However, even with these measures in place, we know that no system is foolproof.”
ABSS suspended Ardila-Perez, a non-citizen who was in the U.S. on a work visa, without pay after his arrest and ultimately fired him.
According to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, there are currently more than 2,500 teachers working in the public school systems on international exchange visas as part of an effort to address historically high turnover rates in the teaching profession.
More than 10,000 North Carolina teachers left the state’s classrooms in 2023, the highest 12-month total reported in at least the past two decades, according to a report issued by the N.C. State Board of Education.
The lawsuit states that M.G.’s academic performance and personal life have suffered as a result of “the perpetually chaotic school environment created by the sexual abuse and exploitation … permitted and condoned” by the school system.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages of more than $25,000.
Ardila-Perez’s next hearing in the criminal case is scheduled in Alamance Superior Court on Aug. 5.
