A parent who says her then-9-year-old daughter was made to sit in a hallway with packing tape covering her mouth is suing a charter school principal and the Anchorage School District.

The lawsuit, filed last fall, says that teachers at the Alaska Native Cultural Charter School inflicted physical and emotional abuse on the 9-year-old child and other students in the fall of 2012. The parent and child, who were identified in the lawsuit only as "Michelle M." and "N.A.," also say that students had their legs taped to desks in one classroom and were called "demeaning names."

The suit claims charter school principal Patsy Shaha, who has been with the school district for more than 15 years, was negligent and either knew or should have known that the teachers involved were engaging in misconduct. No teachers are named in the complaint.

In its answer to the complaint filed May 21, the school district says it couldn't have foreseen the actions and events alleged in the suit and therefore isn't liable for damages. The district also says the lawsuit was filed too late and should be barred by the statute of limitations.

The attorney for the plaintiffs declined to comment for this story. Shaha did not return requests for comment.

The school district recently announced that Shaha, who has been the charter school's principal since 2011, is one of more than a dozen principals being replaced for the 2015-16 school year.

School district spokeswoman Heidi Embley said the district does not comment on active cases, but added that she is not aware of any connection between the lawsuit and Shaha's contract.

A new principal has yet to be named, according to the charter school's Academic Policy Committee, which is in charge of handling contracts. The school's founder, Martha Gould-Lehe, said the committee has been advised not to comment, but that she could say "there wasn't any teachers named in the suit, therefore I assume none were involved."

Carolyn "Care" Clift, who said she was the only special education teacher for the charter school at the time of the alleged abuse, worked with all of the teachers and spent time in all of the classrooms when the school was still housed in a remodeled furniture store in a Muldoon strip mall. ANCCS relocated to a larger former public school building on North Bragaw Street in 2013.

Clift, a Libertarian candidate for governor in 2014, said the school had a positive learning environment. She said she can't conceive of any of the teachers doing any of the things described in the complaint.

"I would say it's pretty much impossible, especially when you say several teachers, because all of the teachers in that school had the best interests of all the children and their parents," Clift said. "It's a parent-controlled school."

The plaintiffs are demanding judgment in excess of $100,000 for infliction of emotional distress, medical expenses and "monetary loss as a result of being forced to move and change schools."

In April 2011, Shaha pleaded no contest to one count of child abuse for an incident that occurred in the vicinity of Baxter Elementary School in December 2010. The Anchorage Police Department complaint says Shaha hit the victim, "SA," in the head with an open hand. Shaha?, who was working as a vice principal at West High School at the time of the charges, was put on administrative leave with pay. The case was dismissed July 29, 2011, after Shaha satisfied the conditions of a deferred sentencing agreement.