Dr. Phil examines Willows High fight

Willows High School is about to be in the national spotlight, again.

And again it is because of a student who has been expelled. But the issue goes beyond a teenager being kicked out of school.

An attorney for Shawki Al-Rifai's family said Tuesday he plans to file a lawsuit against the Willows Unified School District for purportedly violating the student's civil rights.

Al-Rifai, a senior at Willows High, was expelled for causing major dental and facial injuries to a classmate during a fight in October. He later pleaded guilty in Juvenile Court.

Larry Baumbach, who specialized in sexual harassment and racial discrimination cases, said he is not involved in Al-Rifai's expulsion appeal. He picked up the case because of what he — and the family — considers racist motives by the district.

Though the family is Palestinian by heritage, all six children were born in the United States and are U.S. citizens.

Baumbach said discrimination against the family "picked up after 9-11 when kids started using every derogatory phrase they could think of" against the Al-Rifais.

Baumbach also suggested that Shawki Al-Rifai acted in self-defense when another student approached him, "with the football team, in uniform, at his back."

Baumbach claimed the same student had been sexually harassing Shawki's sisters for some time, with "crude, rude" language.

"This case is really, really gross because of the fact that it's gone on so long," Baumbach said.

He did not indicate when the lawsuit will be filed.

The family and the case will be in the national spotlight much sooner than that.

A date with Dr. Phil

On Monday, Willows High assistant principal Jerry Smith and the school district's attorney, Matt Juhl Darlington, flew to Los Angeles to film a segment for the Dr. Phil Show, featuring psychologist Phil McGraw.

The show invited the school district to participate in the show about the November expulsion of Shawki Al-Rifai.

Contents of the taping cannot be revealed, because contracts with the Dr. Phil Show require participants to remain silent until the segment airs. The broadcast date will be set later, according to a Dr. Phil Show spokesman.

He said the taping "dealt with guests who are grappling with various issues in their lives."

Smith said the school district sent him and Darlington to give the district's point of view, because of concerns the family has.

He also referred to Dr. Phil's reputation as someone who focuses on mediation and problem-solving.

"Dr. Phil was an extremely nice man and very cordial to all of us," Smith said.

Willows Unified Superintendent Steve Olmos said Willows High principal Steve Geivett was contacted by a Dr. Phil Show producer Friday afternoon. She asked Geivett to participate in the show.

"We need someone who can talk about the school policies regarding fighting. We do not expect you to talk about the specifics of the incident," states an e-mail to Olmos from the show's senior producer Gyllian Carter.

Since Smith has been in the district longer than Olmos or Geivett, and routinely deals with disciplinary issues, he was asked to go.

Although Smith is glad he went, he said he felt out of his element.

"I kept thinking 'I'm an educator, I'd rather be with my kids,'" he said Tuesday.

The experience "was surreal. It all happened very quickly, so I wasn't fully prepared. Being in Los Angeles for that amount of time in that setting reminds how much I love living in Willows," Smith said. "Everything there is make-believe."

He also noted that it's incredible "the way they make those shows look, coming out of a little building that's basically a box with just a stage."

Al-Rifai's mother did not comment because of the contract.

"It will be interesting to see how the community reacts" after the segment is on television," Smith said.

The school first made the national news after Gary Tudesko was expelled for having unloaded shotguns and ammunition in the pickup truck he parked next to the school.

He and a friend had been duck hunting before school and did not take the guns home before heading to campus.

The National Rifle Association and the California Rifle and Pistol Association Foundation helped pay Tudesko's attorney fees, and the story was picked up by national media affiliates.

Tudesko won his appeal to the Glenn County Board of Education and reinstated to class.

Al-Rifai's appeal hearing comes before the Board of Eduction on April 1.