Most Claims Against St. John’s Military School Allowed

An embattled Salina military boarding school will have to go to trial over a lawsuit filed by 11 ex-cadets alleging a culture of abuse.

U.S. District Judge John Lungstrum ruled Monday that former students at St. John’s Military School in Salina cited enough evidence that a reasonable jury would find the school’s conduct “exceeded the bounds of decency and is intolerable in a modern society.”

The judge dismissed only 10 of the 44 claims brought by the students. The lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in March.

Lungstrum wrote the cadets presented evidence the school had a system that allowed some students to physically discipline other students. He said the school had notice that such discipline caused physical harm and but still failed to protect the cadets.