Student suspend for self-defense?

What is the name of your state? Minnesota


This is a very sensitive issue, but I will try to relay the situation in a politically correct way. My nephew who is in 9th grade, 15, was playing dodge ball in gym. There is a male, 17, in the same gym class, because of a missed credit he takes it with 9th graders. My nephew hit him with the ball in a sensitive part of his body. My nephew apologized after the gym class. There were witnesses to the apology and they confirmed this. The 17-year-old outweighed my nephew by probably 70 pounds.

Rumors in the school started to spread that the 17-year-old was making threats against my nephew. He was warned by friends that the other student was going to get him. So, he tried to find his cousin, who is 17 and more the size of the other student for protection, but couldn't find him. In the hallway between classes, 3 hours later, the 17-year-old walked up to my nephew and called him an "F---- punk, he had books in his hand and again he apologized for the incident. The other student shoved a faculty member away and shoved my nephew into the wall and my nephew hit back. The faculty member could not break up the fight, and resorted to throwing water to get the 17-year-old off my nephew.

We have a Native American Superintendent. We have a white Principal. The 17-year-old student is also Native American. My nephew is white. When the fight was broke up, my nephew was brought to a room in the school, locked in the room and left by himself until his mom got to the school. He was bleeding under the eye, and later went to the hospital because of no feeling on the left side of his lip. His parents were told there might be nerve damage and they are to bring him back for a re-check. However, after the fight the Native American student was transported by school vehicle by the superintendent to the student's home, because they feared for his safety because of retaliation.

The superintendent, after the fight, interviewed the 17-year-old and the principal interviewed my nephew. The superintendent made the decision to suspend both boys for one day. My nephew's parents were told by the principal, that it was out of his hands and not his decision. Yet, the superintendent never did question my nephew about the incident and he hasn't yet. When the superintendent relayed the incident to a board member after school that day, he was told that my nephew intentionally hit the other student in gym, laughed at him, and that my nephew threw the first punch. That was his explanation of the incident. Obviously, the other student's story.

We want to petition our school board for non-renewal of the superintendent's contract, which is due for negotiation in February. We will not tolerate racial prejudices and yet how is it we accept that at the top of our school administration.
Yet, this would never be tolerated if the circumstances were reversed.
There has been an ongoing problem with the disciplinary actions of our superintendent, compared to that of the white students.

Can we simply say that we are petitioning for non-renewal based on discrimination? Are there grounds for legal action against the school?