Teen Settles Suit Over District Revealing His Grade-Point Average

An 18-year-old who sued his school district for revealing his grade-point average has settled the case for $160.

Albert Nguyen and his father had sued the Los Alamitos Unified School District and an administrator after Nguyen was barred from taking his elected seat as senior class president at Los Alamitos High because of his grades. The suit did not contest that action, but alleged that the district violated the state Education Code, which restricts school districts from disclosing student grades without parental consent or a court order.

In the settlement, the district agreed to pay Nguyen $160, and school officials named in the suit apologized in a letter.

Nguyen had won the student election for class president, but was told he could not take the seat because his grade-point average during his last junior semester was 2.33. According to Los Alamitos High officials, a student must maintain at least a 3.0 average each semester to be eligible to hold that office.

But Van Tran, Nguyen’s attorney, said the school policy does not specify whether that is a student’s semester or overall grade-point average. Nguyen’s cumulative grade-point average at the time was 3.50, Tran said.

On Wednesday, Nguyen said he was satisfied with the outcome, “but this could have been settled a year and a half ago. They violated the law and kept on wasting taxpayers’ money to do this. In the end, they admitted they were wrong.”

Nguyen, who transferred out of Los Alamitos Unified and graduated from another district, has been taking classes at UC Irvine.

Lou Marino, the district’s attorney, said in a statement, “The school district is very proud of its high standards and chose not to be bullied by . . . lawsuits brought by a former student. This was a case in which the school district held the high moral ground.”