California teacher fills out a student’s report card, then the mother sees what they allegedly wrote and sues the school district

Parents strive for their children to have a flawless record, but one mother of a third-grade student at Walter Hays Elementary School in Palo Alto, California, is reportedly taking legal action against the school district over several comments a teacher allegedly left on her son’s report card. The comments, which the mother claims were unfair, were reportedly based on her son’s behavior during the previous school year.

On Oct. 5, Weiwei Luo filed a lawsuit against the Alto Unified School District and its board of education, alleging that her son’s teacher, Holly Harrison, wrote on his report card that he was “working on his responses to peers when he is frustrated or upset.” In other instances, Harrison allegedly noted that the child was “developing his ability to listen to others’ perspectives and collaborate with humility,” and needed to work on “showing respect and cooperating with others,” according to court documents obtained by People.

Luo is not challenging her son’s academic grades, but instead reportedly asked the school district to revise the written comments on the report card on June 25, alleging they were inaccurate and lacked evidence for Harrison’s claims. The district agreed the following month to add a separate section to his academic records, but denied Luo’s request to remove the comments entirely, arguing that Harrison’s assessment reflected her professional observation and judgment.

California mother seeks a judge to intervene in report card dispute

Luo disputed the accuracy of Harrison’s remarks, arguing that the comments did not represent the full context of the situation. Her lawsuit reportedly cited an incident that occurred in October 2025, in which her son stuck his tongue out at another student after allegedly being intentionally kicked by them during a playground disagreement, an aspect Luo believes Harrison failed to consider, according to the California Post.

Luo then appealed to the district’s board of education, which held a hearing on Aug. 18 to address her complaint. The board maintained that Harrison’s remarks were not misleading when considered alongside the rest of the report card and found the comments to be substantiated. Luo’s appeal was denied in a 4-0 vote, according to the board’s written decision.

Luo, however, claimed the hearing was unfair, alleging that her attorney was not allowed to participate. The mother is now asking a Santa Clara County judge to overturn the board’s decision, order the removal of the remarks, grant a new hearing with her attorney present, and reimburse her legal fees.

Superintendent of the Palo Alto Unified School District, Jason Glass, told the Palo Alto Daily Post that laws in California grant teachers significant discretion over grading, but also allow parents to dispute information they believe is incorrect in their children’s school records through a formal process. “The district follows that process and will respond to the petition in court,” Glass said.

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