WHITELAND, Ind. — The family of the student who drowned at the Whiteland Community High School pool is filing a federal lawsuit against the district, school and staff.
Fifteen-year-old Alaina Dildine died May 16, 2023, after being pulled from the swimming pool at the high school.
Nine months later, Kyle and Victoria Dildine are not only still gutted by grief, but also yearning for justice. Their daughter, who they describe as kind and joyful, made it a mission to care for others and make sure everyone was noticed. They say it's a cruel irony that she died because no one noticed her at the bottom of the pool for nearly an hour.
They say Alaina's drowning death was preventable by the school they trusted to protect her.
"It shouldn't have happened," Victoria said. "It should not have happened. Those people that were supposed to be keeping her safe also deserve to be accountable because that didn't happen that day. They weren't even doing the bare minimum at our school, and we thought they were."
"If just one more thing was done, she probably would be here right now," Kyle said.
Alaina had epilepsy. She'd been living with the diagnosis since second grade.
Her parents say the district, school and staff were all well aware of her condition.
When she drowned in May, it was after having a seizure in the swimming pool.
A police investigation found no one broke the law. But investigators did determine Alaina went underwater in class and no one noticed for 53 minutes.
"How do you lose a kid for 53 minutes? I don't understand it at all," Kyle said.
"Even common sense says you've got to keep a head count. You've got to check the same amount of kids come out of the pool as go into the pool," said the Dildine's attorney, Stephen Wagner. "Basically, they forced an epileptic student into the most dangerous place in school — a pool. And they didn't watch her."
Family says Alaina had a care plan in place since elementary school because of a history of seizures.
According to the suit, Dildine was "experiencing frequent seizure activity at school" during the spring semester, including in swim class.
"She had them so many times that the teacher herself was actually deducting points," Kyle said, "and we had to write her an email saying, 'That's medical.'"
The suit alleges that on May 8, the physical education teacher called the nurse about Alaina "seeing blobs." The nurse encouraged the teacher to let Alaina sit out. Later that day, the nurse observed Alaina have a seizure.
On May 11, Alaina's mother sent an email to the physical education teacher. According to the suit, she was concerned her daughter was having to swim in order to receive participation credit for the class, which made up the bulk of a student's grade. In the email, she allegedly asked the teacher if there was any other way Alaina could receive participation credit for days she is not able to participate.
Then, just four days before Alaina's drowning, the suit alleges her mother sent another email to the physical education teacher, asking if there was any other way for her daughter to participate in physical education without swimming:
“Please know that we do value [A.D.] showing participation for class, so if you would like her to complete some sort of writing or worksheet to earn points we are certainly in support of that. Please just let her/us know. Thank you for always looking out for her safety in PE we are very grateful.”
According to the suit, the physical education teacher did not respond to the mother's request.
On May 16, Alaina drowned as the result of a seizure, according to the Johnson County coroner.
"The number one cause of unintentional death for children with epilepsy is drowning," Wagner said. "How in the world can you not watch the one kid in the class who has a care plan for epilepsy? Why is she in the pool to begin with?"
During a press conference the day after the incident, school officials said they believed Alaina was swimming laps with other students when she "went under a bulkhead" that divides the pool.
The Johnson County Sheriff's Office said students entered the pool at 9:37 a.m. At 10:18 a.m., Alaina went underwater and below the bulkhead that separates swimming lanes and diving area.
The class ended at 10:30 a.m. with Alaina still under the bulkhead, according to the sheriff's office.
The school claimed there was a lifeguard and instructor on the pool deck when Alaina reportedly went under. A police investigation determined Alaina had gone underwater and went unnoticed for 53 minutes.
The investigation found no one was criminally liable.
At a school board meeting in August, Alaina's mother, Victoria, said the teacher failed to keep students safe.
"We come to you yet again to demand that the board fire (the P.E. teacher). She failed to uphold the job description of a P.E. teacher," Victoria said.
Victoria then read off the job description of a P.E. teacher on the school's website, saying the teacher directly failed its standards in multiple categories.
"Supervises students in and out of the classroom," Victoria said. "Again, another instance that's listed on the description of the job duty that was not fulfilled."
In the suit, it alleges a head count was never done at the end of class to ensure all students had exited the pool. As part of the Alaina's plan with the school, she was supposed to be near a teacher at all times. Yet, according to the suit, Alaina was in the middle lane of the pool during the class.
Additionally, the suit claims the lifeguard on duty was instructing beginning swimmers in another lane. The suit also claims the lifeguard's certification had been expired for nearly three years.
"There was a lifeguard there who had an expired certification for two years," Victoria said. "How is that ... how is that possible?"
"The lifeguard was in one lane and not looking at any of the other students," Wagner said. "And even to call him a lifeguard is not accurate because his certification with the American Red Cross had expired years before, and the school had no policy or procedure in place to check on the paperwork, the credential of lifeguards they had watching the students."
The suit is seeking monetary damages, medical, funeral and burial expenses, counseling and attorney fees.
The Dildines say they hope legal action leads to change for all students and schools.
"There are more schools than just Clark-Pleasant that have swimming as a requirement. There are more schools that have pools. Everyone everywhere should look at those policies. Parents should know," Victoria said. "I mean, kids deserve to be safe at school!"
It's a cause they say their daughter would have fought for, too.
Policy changes
On Feb. 6, the Clark-Pleasant Community School Corporation shared a document with parents detailing its updated pool policies and procedures after the drowning.
The district brought in "one of the country's foremost experts on swimming pool safety."
The district said that expert gave them suggestions and direction, as well as "more specific language that will add layers of safety to our swimming protocol." The district said it took all of those recommendations into consideration when looking at pool rules and guidelines, along with how physical education swimming classes are done.
"Because of the changes we have implemented, it will make it a lot safer for our students and any other group that will be using the pool. We have worked hard to do our absolute best in refining and strengthening our checklist and guidelines," said a statement from Superintendent Dr. Timothy Edsell.
Click here for a complete look at the revised policy proposal.