A lawsuit by Hail Ketchum and the ACLU followed, in which Asrani and other district officials were sued for “permitting and sanctioning an atmosphere that is hostile to female, lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender students in general, and has led to despicable threats of violence against one student in particular.”
The suit was settled out of court.
Karyl Ketchum said her daughter lived in terror following the incident, electing to study at home rather than attend classes, in fear of running into her alleged tormenters.
“The school would not keep Hail safe,” Karyl Ketchum said. “Ron Martin committed himself to keeping her safe. She made it through because she had a friend in him, and so many other kids have said this to our family.”
Karyl Ketchum said she was happy to hear that Asrani would not be working with at-risk students in Los Angeles. She feels that Asrani is better with numbers than with children.
Martin said on Facebook that he has the full backing of his teacher’s union, and is fighting what he believes are unfounded allegations.
School Drama Club President Heather Shields pleaded on the “Save Rent” Facebook group page for a cessation of action until more is known.
“Mr. Martin is an integral part of our department and has done so much for all of us, and we current CdM drama students want to do all we can to support him, but we don’t want to get ourselves in the mix until we fully know what is going on and have the final verdict. It’s just we don’t want a controversy if there is no controversy (like if Mr. Martin comes back next Monday),” she wrote.
Martin, as well as representatives at Antioch Unified and the Partnership, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
