A parent, Dr. Rahul Julka, files lawsuit against local Board of Education, in Illinois.
AB Wire
Two Indian American families in Illinois have been accused of cheating in this year’s National Geographic Bee competition and children of both the families barred from all academic competitions from their school district. One of the parents has disputed the allegations and filed a lawsuit against the local Board of Education.
The controversy may come to an end next month, as Butler Elementary District 53 school officials and an Oak Brook family battle it out in court.
A DuPage County judge is expected on July 18 to hear a lawsuit brought by a father over procedures officials used when sanctioning his 9- and 11-year-old sons who were accused of planning to cheat during this year’s National Geographic Bee regional competition, reported Chicago Daily Herald.
The boys were banned from all academic competitions in the district after officials accused their parents of intentionally purchasing and downloading test questions days before the Jan. 19 Geographic Bee competition at Brook Forest Elementary School.
Dr. Rahul Julka, a DuPage County surgeon, filed the lawsuit last month against school board members on behalf of his children. The lawsuit seeks to eliminate the sanctions and have letters and documents related to a district investigation into the parents removed from the boys’ school files.
According to district officials and exhibits attached to the 33-page lawsuit, a six-week investigation determined Julka’s wife, Komal, registered as a “fraudulent” home school provider and paid for the questions with her credit card.
Administrators began receiving complaints Jan. 15 about Julka admitting to “jailbreaking” the geography bee system and gaining access to test questions. According to exhibits filed in the lawsuit, another parent claims to have twice urged the Julkas to remove their children from the competition, which they eventually did, reported the Daily Herald.
“When we became aware there might be two families who gained access, inappropriately so, to contest questions, we basically stopped and did a month-and-a-half investigation, during which all of the correct people were interviewed,” board President Alan Hanzlik said Thursday. “When we were done, we had all the data we needed and it became clear to (Superintendent Heidi Wennstrom) that there was a definitive effort by two parents who did gain access and were intending to use that material to gain an advantage in the geography bee.”
Hanzlik said the board immediately upheld the sanctions recommended by Wennstrom.
In an April 15 letter to the Julkas, administrators accused Komal Julka of contradicting herself when she first said she downloaded the test questions accidentally. According to court records, she also said she paid for what she thought was a study guide so an uncle could help the children prepare.
Komal Julka also is accused of providing the email account and password to the second family, whose child participated in the bee but was later disqualified and placed on similar sanctions. Hanzlik declined to comment regarding the second family, saying they have “not yet filed a lawsuit, so their information is not public.”
Hanzlik called the lawsuit and the sanctions leading to it “an unfortunate but necessary path.” According to the lawsuit, both families requested and participated in administrative hearings that prompted an “independent review” by a district-hired attorney, who upheld the initial findings.
Hanzlik defended having the independent review conducted by the same law firm that represents the district.
“The independent investigator works within the law firm we work with that knows Illinois school law,” he said. “So, yes, it’s the same law firm, but the attorney who did the investigation is not at all associated with the attorney we work with.”
Julka filed the lawsuit shortly after the review upheld the previous findings. Hanzlik also confirmed the district has spent more than $100,000 in legal fees and administrative time on the case.
The Chicago Tribune reported an unnamed National Geographic Bee organizer as quoted as saying in district records: “This is the worst story I have heard in 15 years of working at the bee. I have heard some colorful parent behaviors, but never to this extent of deception,”
On Wednesday, administrators emailed a letter to all district parents notifying them of the recent court action and promised to “pursue every legal option available to stop this destructive behavior against our educational mission and, ultimately, property values within District 53.”
the parents said in a written statement to the Tribune: “District 53 openly admits that there is no evidence at all that our children did anything wrong or improper, but despite this, imposed sanctions against our children and put information into their student records that may have an extremely negative impact on their future educational and professional lives. We believe this is not right or proper, and we are confident that the courts will agree with us.”
The high-performing district serves about 400 children who attend kindergarten through eighth grade.
For nearly three decades, millions of elementary-age children have competed for a chance to be crowned champion of the national geography bee. Students in thousands of school districts across the United States compete for the chance to reach the national championship round. The national winner receives a $50,000 college scholarship, among other prizes.
The district also investigated another contest, known as WordMasters, and, alleged the second family engaged in academic dishonesty, the court filing said. The Julkas were not implicated in that contest.
Wennstrom said she promptly notified both WordMasters and the National Geographic Bee and began an internal investigation that resulted in the sanctions. Both families filed complaints with the school board, prompting another review by a district-hired attorney that upheld the initial findings. The district cleared the third family, accused by Komal Julka, of any wrongdoing, reported the Tribune.
A lawyer for the Julka’s children said the parents unintentionally obtained actual test questions and the school district overreacted after conducting secretive, unfair proceedings that ended with sanctions against children who did nothing wrong. Despite the district’s offer to remove all mention of the cheating investigation from student files if no future problems occur, the attorney said the parents aren’t leaving anything in this computerized era to chance.
“There really isn’t much a school district can do to the parents, but they are in a position of overwhelming power regarding the future of a child,” attorney Christopher Stull said.
4 Comments
Very sad story…. Julka’s are real cowards for promoting and producing cheaters. He must be a joke for a doctor and is likely an employee at some clinic or hospital.
Very sad story…. Julka’s are real cowards for promoting and producing cheaters. He must be a joke for a doctor and is likely an employee at some clinic or hospital.
What a pathetic display of fraud and greed by Indian parents..Shame on you Rahul & Komal Julka. You are a disgrace to hard working Indians in this country.. When Character is lost, Everything is Lost!
This is crazy