Abuse allegations at now-defunct Tacoma private school spur lawsuit
Two families are suing the Northwest School of Innovative Learning, Tacoma Public Schools and the University Place School District, alleging that the three entities played a role in abusing their children.
The Northwest School of Innovative Learning, or NW SOIL, was a school for students with disabilities in Tacoma that shuttered in January 2024 after an investigation from the Seattle Times and ProPublica outlined a lack of staff and licensed therapists at the school, their excessive use of restraint, isolation and widespread abuse of students. The families’ lawsuit, which was filed on April 4 in Pierce County Superior Court, seeks attorney’s fees and monetary damages in an amount to be proven at trial.
Christopher West, chief executive officer for Fairfax Behavioral Health, NW SOIL’s parent company, declined to comment on the lawsuit. In a statement to The News Tribune, University Place School District superintendent Jeff Chamberlin called the allegations “concerning” but said the district could not comment further “due to the sensitive and confidential nature of this matter, and to respect student and family privacy.” A spokesperson for Tacoma Public Schools did not return a request for comment.
The complaint lists as the plaintiffs a Tacoma resident identified as A.M. and her son M.M., and a University Place resident identified as T.H-S and her son K.H-S – listed as such in order to protect the privacy of the two former NW SOIL students who are minors.
The families alleged that NW SOIL routinely placed M.M. and K.H-S in isolation rooms with dried urine, feces and blood on the walls, and restrained them physically. M.M. was allegedly choked by a security staff member, and a 17-year-old student allegedly sexually harassed K.H-S., according to the court filings.
“M.M. frequently came home with bruises or scratches from staff members,” the complaint reads. “He was also traumatized from seeing his peers violently restrained on a daily basis.”
The plaintiffs also alleged that Tacoma Public Schools did not tell A.M. that NW SOIL had a reputation for being a hostile and abusive place despite knowing of their reputation, and did not notify A.M. when it received reports of the use of restraint and isolation against her son from NW SOIL. NW SOIL rarely documented these incidents, and did not adequately supervise students, they alleged.
“M.M. did not tell his mother that he was regularly restrained and isolated daily at NW SOIL because he believed it was normal, and he was led by school staff to believe he
deserved it,” the complaint reads. “A.M. had no idea the extent of her son’s abuse at school during that time.”
NW SOIL was a “nonpublic agency,” a private school that accepted millions of taxpayer dollars from the state and school districts to teach students with the most needs, ProPublica and the Seattle Times reported. The complaint letter states that students M.M. and K.H-S., who were six and seven years old when they were first enrolled at NW SOIL, were among that cohort, sent to the private school free of charge on behalf of Tacoma Public Schools and the University place School District.
The families allege that NW SOIL was supposed to provide a productive learning environment for their sons, did not teach them at all and traumatized them instead. Both parents were left with guilt and anxiety because they weren’t able to protect their kids, the complaint states.
The state launched an investigation into private schools in Washington like NW SOIL in January of 2023 following ProPublica and the Seattle Times’ reporting first published in November 2022. By August 2023, the state barred NW SOIL from accepting new students and the school finally closed its doors in January 2024.
The trial is set to take place on Oct. 1, 2026, according to the documents.
