Washoe school district to pay $17,500 to parent arrested at board meeting

The Washoe County School District has apologized to a university professor who was arrested for trespassing in June at a school board meeting after trying to raise concerns about the education of his autistic daughter.

The district also agreed to pay Larry Daily $17,500 to settle the dispute over his June 11 arrest, the Reno Gazette-Journal (http://bit.ly/16JxCUB ) reported Wednesday.

School district trustees will vote Aug. 27 on the settlement, which includes $10,000 for Dailey and $7,500 for his attorney fees.

Dailey, who teaches journalism at University of Nevada, Reno, was issued a trespass warning in February after school officials said he was harassing an employee over the phone about issues involving his daughter.

The warning prevented him from going to district offices without written consent from the deputy superintendent or the district’s legal counsel.

Dailey tried to enter the school district’s office several times during a June school board meeting but was blocked by school police officers and eventually handcuffed and taken to Washoe County Jail. He was accused of violating the trespass order and obstructing a police officer.

The district issued an apology to Dailey for inconveniences that the allegations, trespass warnings and related circumstances caused.

“I accept the apology,” Dailey said during a public comment period at Tuesday night’s board meeting. “This is about the children, not about me.”

He asked trustees, staff and people at the board meeting to think about how the district can meet the needs of the students with special needs.

Dailey’s attorney, Ken McKenna said the district agreed to drop all criminal charges and the trespass order. Dailey has agreed to move forward and drop prior complaints, McKenna said.

The three-page settlement stipulates that Dailey will drop his Open Meeting Law complaint filed with the Nevada attorney general’s office, dismiss his discrimination complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and drop any litigation arising from the events.

“It’s a little slap on the wrist,” McKenna said about the settlement. “But this wasn’t about the money. This was about the district apologizing.”