Chandler Parents Fight for Change After Teen’s Suicide, Navigating Legal Battles

CHANDLER, AZ (AZFamily)

— Jordan and Kassidy Harstad are not giving up the fight to hold the
Chandler Unified School District
accountable for their son’s death.

They claim their son, Andrew, was the target of bullies, and that’s one of the reasons the teen took his own life in May 2022. There’s no disputing the tragedy surrounding the teen’s death, but there is still debate over whether Andrew’s death could have been prevented.

“It’s important because he’s still my son,” said Kassidy Harstad. “We don’t stop being his parents. I don’t stop being his mom just because he is not with us physically, and if we can help prevent another family, another mom and dad from going through this experience, that’s important.”

Last year, Andrew’s parents
filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Chandler Unified School District
, claiming administrators at Hamilton High School didn’t do enough to protect Andrew. A
Maricopa County Superior Court judge tossed the lawsuit out
, ruling that Arizona law does not allow a wrongful death claim in the case of suicide.

The Harstads appealed the decision, and on Tuesday, the case was brought before the
Arizona Court of Appeals
. “This is not life, just goes on as normal. This needs to be talked about,” said Jordan Harstad. “Schools need to be more accountable, need to be there for our children when they hear of bullying, they need to take proactive actions.”

The parents’ attorney argued that school officials were told on numerous occasions that the teenager was being bullied, but little was done to protect him or punish the students responsible.

The attorney for Chandler Unified told the court, there’s no evidence the school could have done anything to prevent Andrew’s suicide and Arizona law is clear that schools are not responsible for what happens to a student off campus.

The Harstads say that regardless of what happens in their case, it’s time for Arizona laws to change.

The couple is currently working with state lawmakers to pass Andrew’s law,
SB 1508
, which would force school districts across the state to adopt stricter rules and guidelines when it comes to bullying.

“The law is well over 50 years old, things change,” said Jordan Harstad. “Social media, internet, technology, students can be in contact 24/7, 365, and this isn’t just in person. These things are with them when they wake, sleep, in school, on vacation, and with their families. The law needs to be more relevant to where we are in 2025 today.”

The Arizona Court of Appeals is expected to make a ruling in the case in the next week or two.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story?


Please click here to report it


.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send


it to us here


with a brief description.