The Westfield Academy and Central School District is set to do a settlement with a parent who alleges his child was improperly suspended.

The settlement proposal, for $3,500, is noted in court papers filed by both the plaintiff and the defendant June 11. The child was allegedly suspended Jan. 16, 2024, for the remainder of the 2023-24 school year.

A court affidavit by the child’s father says that an alleged note threatening a school shooting started the affair. The child was accused of writing the note, and denied it, but initially received a five-day suspension after an investigation by school authorities.

The suspension for the rest of the school year subsequently came down at the Jan. 16, 2024, hearing. “It is my contention that the process… was flawed, discriminatory, and unsupported by credible evidence, violating (the child’s) rights and the district’s obligations,” states the child’s father in the court filing.

He filed a notice of claim against the Westfield school district alleging his child experienced “emotional distress, emotional violence, fear of school personnel, change of school and district, counseling fees and mental damages.” However, the man acknowledges he does not have medical records to support his contentions, relying on “observable changes in her behavior.”

The man later decided a settlement was in his child’s best interest, because it could provide immediate compensation and avoid the need for potentially stressful and burdensome court proceedings. The June 11 filings ask the state Supreme Court’s Chautauqua County branch to accept the $3,500 settlement.

The attorney for the school district, Alice Cunningham, states in her own court affidavit that “with the understanding that payment of settlement monies in this matter does not constitute an admission of guilt or wrongdoing on the part of the district, I believe that this settlement fully and fairly compensates the infant for her alleged damages.”