Ankeny student says school bully left her brain damaged and the district gave her attacker a spirit award

An Ankeny student suffered permanent brain damage after a bully punched her in the face and slammed her head into a concrete wall, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday against the school district.

Audrey Vacek, 18, alleges in the suit that Ankeny High School has done little to alleviate years of torment, mostly from Mallory Schaubhut, a fellow student who punched her after the two became embittered over a situation involving a boy they both had dated.

The in-class attack that left Vacek with brain damage occurred in 2016, just months after the mother of another child appeared on the “Steve Harvey” show to denounce what she claimed was the school’s inaction in protecting her daughter from bullying.

Vacek’s suit refers to her attacker as "MAS," a now 17-year-old girl, who in November was awarded Ankeny's' “Spirit of a Jaguar Award” for her anti-bullying talks that she was legally required to give as part of her probation for assaulting Vacek, the lawsuit states. MAS are Mallory Schaubhut's initials.

“They knew she had bullied me. They knew she had assaulted me. All of this happened at Ankeny High School,” Vacek told the Register in an exclusive interview. “And then they gave her an award for her court-ordered speeches that she had to give because she assaulted me at school?”

Mallory Schaubhut and her father, Brian Schaubhut — both defendants in the lawsuit — did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment.

School employees named in the lawsuit also did not immediately respond Wednesday.

District spokeswoman Samantha Kampman on Thursday morning said the district takes bullying seriously and is sympathetic to the issues Vacek faced. The district has policies and procedures are in place to address bullying. Every report is investigated, she said.

"While the district cannot discuss open litigation, Ankeny Schools will vehemently defend the district’s response to reports of bullying," Kampman said. "Ankeny Schools has been and continues to be committed to the safety and security of all students.

Vacek said the bullying began about a year before the attack.

Initially, she was threatened with violence, given sexually derogatory and profanity-laced nicknames and taunted “almost daily” with such antics as throwing food into her “rats nest” hair, she and her attorney, Roxanne Conlin, allege in the lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The lawsuit centers on a September 2016 assault in which Vacek was struck while a Spanish teacher was outside the classroom.

Vacek thought she suffered a concussion. But her vomiting and headaches eventually evolved into memory loss, so much so that a month later, school staff reported that the Ankeny teen was unknowingly repeating conversations.

Vacek missed almost 38 days of class in the 2016 fall semester after she was hurt. She was forced to step aside on the school’s varsity volleyball team because doctors said another concussion could kill her, according to the lawsuit.

Physicians ultimately determined Vacek suffered permanent brain damage that included ongoing memory lapses and confusion, the suit states.

Today, she sometimes forgets conversations; has difficulty concentrating or retaining information, which caused her to drop advanced math courses; and finds herself unable to remember even the most routine pieces of information, such as the combination to her home garage.

According to the lawsuit, the district had ongoing problems with Schaubhut in regard to Iowa’s anti-bullying law.

Vice Principal Chris Feldans at one point failed to call Schaubhut to his office after one of Audrey’s reports, saying he would instead inform Vacek’s teachers, according to the suit.

A school counselor, Stephanie Miller, said calling in Schaubhut to discuss the conduct would only make matters worse; and teacher Jane Lamfers refused to allow Vacek to move her seat away from Schaubhut before the incident that caused her brain damage, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also names the district, Principal Jeff Hawkins, Feldhans, Lamfers and Miller.

After the assault, Mallory Schaubhut eventually was transferred to Ankeny Centennial High School — after Vacek filed a no-contact order, according to the lawsuit. But Vacek said harassment has continued through school rumors being spread about her.

Katie Vacek, Audrey's mother, became emotional when she described how her daughter’s dream of becoming a veterinarian is immensely more difficult because of the brain damage she suffered.

“I had a normal, academically great sophomore, and now this is where we are at,” Katie Vacek said. “And I have other kids in the school district and I think, ‘This can’t happen to someone else.’”