Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on June 30, 2025
(EDITOR’S NOTE: To protect their children’s identities, Idaho Education News is not naming the parents who filed the lawsuit and the most recent tort claim against the Boise School District.)
BOISE, ID – Two parents have sued the Boise School District, saying their son was sexually abused while attending Valley View Elementary School.
Filed Thursday, the lawsuit centers on Gavin Snow, a former special education assistant who had worked in two Boise elementary schools. Snow died by suicide on Jan. 10, taking his life as Boise police officers attempted to arrest him on child sexual abuse charges.
The Boise district now says it has received seven tort claims directly or indirectly related to Snow — precursors to possible civil lawsuits. This appears to be the first of the tort claims to result in a lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, the parents say Snow “sexually abused and photographed” their son on multiple occasions, in a school sensory room and/or a school bathroom. They say a Boise police detective informed them on Jan. 16 that their son had been abused.
The child, identified only by initials, was placed in Valley View in 2024, because it offers a “structured learning center” for special education students. The parents say they pulled their son out of Boise schools in early February.
The lawsuit alleges the Boise district “repeatedly breached its own policies and duties” for supervising special education students. The parents say the district owed their son “a duty of care as a special needs student it voluntarily took under its custody and control during the school day.”
The Boise district declined to comment on the lawsuit Friday.
But in April, district Superintendent Lisa Roberts apologized to parents and staff, and said an employee had been involved “in multiple incidents of inappropriate behavior,” involving more than one Valley View student. At the time, Boise also announced several districtwide changes in special education protocol.
The lawsuit requests damages of at least $10,000, attorney’s fees and costs of at least $5,000 and punitive damages. But a March 10 tort claim suggests the parents may seek damages well above the $10,000 minimum mentioned in the lawsuit. “While (the child’s) damages have not yet been calculated, it is expected that damages will be in excess of $1 million.”
Idaho EdNews received copies of the claim Friday from the parents’ law firm and from the district. But the district did not provide this tort claim to EdNews on June 4, when it responded to a public records request for claims received since Jan. 1.
The March 10 tort claim fell within that time period.
Boise district spokesman Dan Hollar said the omission was a clerical oversight.
“We apologize that this document was inadvertently omitted from our earlier response to your public records request,” Hollar said in an email. “The omission was unintentional.”
The parents have requested a jury trial.
The latest tort claim
On Friday, the Boise district released a seventh tort claim regarding Snow.
In the June 12 claim, parents of a former Valley View student say school officials failed to adequately supervise Snow, and failed to report suspected cases of abuse. As a result, the tort claim says, school officials cannot assure parents that Snow “was not alone with their children and did not sexually exploit or abuse their children.”
In the claim, the parents say they “have suffered and will continue to suffer from emotional distress.” They are seeking damages of at least $50 million.
The seven tort claims seek a total of at least $153 million in damages.
