A former student has alerted the Hopewell Valley Regional School District that she intends to sue for $10 million, claiming the district did not protect her from a teacher who tried to sexually assault her and is still in the classroom today.

The girl accuses Timberland Middle School teacher and athletics coordinator Mark Amantia of making “improper physical and sexual advances” to her during the 2016-2017 school year, starting when she was 13.

In the tort claim notice filed Tuesday - a first step to suing a public entity - her attorneys said the inappropriate touching, including repeatedly massaging her neck and back in full view of other students and staff, culminated in Amantia trying to sexually assault her until she stabbed him with a pencil and ran from the classroom.

The notice said the district alerted law enforcement after the girl, identified only as Student S., disclosed some of the inappropriate touching to her mother and a high school official in 2018.

The district said Tuesday the state’s Division of Child Protection & Permanency and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office investigated her claims and found “no evidence of wrongdoing.”

But the law firm representing her, John Rue & Associates, said in a press statement that the lack of criminal charges is not an exoneration of the English teacher.

“Prosecutors stated directly to the family that they had declined to bring criminal charges only because there were no other witnesses to the alleged sexual assault, and because criminal charges have to be supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” the firm said.

Amantia did not return an email Tuesday and attempts to reach him by phone Tuesday and Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Amantia became the student’s social studies teacher in eighth grade, according to the tort notice. He paid her a lot of attention, made comments about her appearance and began to stand close behind her, massaging her neck and shoulders in plain view of others, her attorneys claim.

Amantia did this in the cafeteria once and refused to let her go, the notice alleges.

“Finding no other recourse, Student S. slid from her seat to the floor and then under the table, all while her friends and teachers watched. No one intervened on Student S.’s behalf to protect her from Amantia’s obviously inappropriate behavior,” the notice said. It said she hid under the table until he laughed it off and left.

Eventually, the notice said, the student and a friend who had also been made to feel uncomfortable by Amantia told their guidance counselor about the problem. “She downplayed the allegations, stating that she knows Amantia can be ‘friendly,’ and promising the girls that she would ‘talk’ with the teacher,” the lawyers wrote.

But Amantia resumed his behavior after a few weeks, and three more meetings with the guidance counselor did not lead to any actions, the lawyers said. The notice said the allegations were reported up the chain of command, but not to the top.

The notice said Amantia tried to sexually assault her in the spring of 2017, when he locked her in a classroom after school and exposed himself to her. She claims he pushed her against a wall and tried to pull down her pants, but she was able to flee after stabbing him with a pencil.

She repressed memories of the harassment and abuse until the summer of 2018, her lawyers wrote, when she eventually told her mother and her high school guidance counselor.

Superintendent Thomas A. Smith said the district took the accusations “very seriously” and reported them to local police and the Division of Child Protection & Permanency.

“During the investigation, the staff member was removed from the classroom. Several independent, governmental investigations determined that there was no evidence of wrongdoing by the staff member and he was reinstated to the classroom," Smith said.

Smith said the district “followed all appropriate protocols and procedures" given the circumstances. “We have the highest expectations for professional behavior on the part of our staff, and the well-being of our students is our foremost,” he said.

Meanwhile, the girl has anxiety attacks and has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression, her lawyers said. She was hospitalized for several weeks after a mental health episode in February, the notice said.

Attorney John Rue said the family tried to work with school administrators, asking to have Amantia moved to a position where he would have less contact with female students, but the district refused.

“If I were a parent of a teenage girl at Hopewell Valley reading the allegations in our documents, I would be extremely alarmed," Rue said.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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