Elite California private school sued after expelling 5th grader over rap lyrics, squirt gun emojis

LOS ANGELES - The parents of a fifth-grade student at an elite Los Angeles private school are suing the school and its director after the boy was expelled for sending emails containing squirt gun emojis and rap lyrics to another student.

The lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court seeks to reverse the expulsion of the boy from Curtis School. It also asks for the boys' attorneys' fees to be paid.

According to the lawsuit, the Head of School Meera Ratnesar unfairly disciplined the boy "without evidence that his email exchange broke a school policy."

'[The] decision to expel [the student] and bar him from campus is arbitrary and capricious,' the lawsuit said. A copy of a letter written by Ratnesar to the boy's parents was also attached. 

Court documents said the boy and his classmate exchanged emails on September 5 containing lyrics from the chorus of the 2018 YNW Melly rap song "Murder on My Mind." 

The friend, also in the fifth grade, said, "Wake up in the morning I got." The boy responded, "Murder on my mind."

Over two weeks later on September 25, the students were emailing each other during their shared first period math class and sent several squirt gun emojis.

The petitioner also said, "I hate you" and "You dead yet" during that interaction.

"The emails between the two friends do not appear to violate any student conduct rule and the squirt gun emoji is available on the Curtis School's IT system that is used by the students," according to the petition, which further states that no similar discipline has been imposed on the second boy even though he started the discussion based on the song's lyrics in the earlier email exchange.

On September 30, the boy was called into a meeting with the director and his homeroom teacher to discuss his emails, but the court documents claim the boy was not shown the specific emails.

Ratnesar met with the boy's parents and told them he was expelled and immediately barred from campus, according to the petition.

Curtis School is a K-6 institution located on Mulholland Drive. Tuition costs $28,760, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The school has taught children of celebrities, including David and Victoria Beckham.

City News Service contributed to this report.