A civil action complaint has been brought against the State College Area School District because a student and her parents said they are concerned about the varsity track coach's treatment of the girl.

Kathy and Robert Seitz, the parents of 16-year-old student-athlete Jennifer Seitz, filed the lawsuit on her behalf Oct. 30. They said they are worried about their daughter's safety while under the supervision of State College Area High School girls' varsity track coach Phillip Klaus.

The suit names the district, all 10 members of the school board and Klaus as defendants.

The lawsuit alleges that Klaus "failed to follow written policies and procedures of the coaching handbook, district policies and procedures, and Code of Conduct for Education under Pennsylvania code."

It also says Klaus falsified information related to punitive actions taken against Jennifer Seitz, he showed disregard for the physical safety and well being of athletes, and he was discriminatory in distributing punishment.

"It is not just a isolated problem between him and I," Jennifer Seitz said.

Klaus declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Superintendent Patricia Best said the district's solicitors are reviewing the lawsuit. She had no further comment on the suit.

Several board members would not comment about the litigation. They have been instructed by the district's lawyers not to comment or make statements concerning the lawsuit because it is under litigation, board president Susan Werner said.

The Seitz family is seeking to have Klaus permanently removed from the position of girls' varsity track coach, and to receive compensatory damages for pain, emotional distress and humiliation they say they have suffered as a result of Klaus' alleged behavior.

Kathy Seitz said one example of Klaus' inappropriate behavior is when Klaus started to drive away from a rest stop as three team members ran after his van. She said during a meeting in June, Klaus denied the incident, but later admitted that he did it.

Jennifer Seitz said she was improperly treated by Klaus. At a district competition, she said Klaus removed her from one of her scheduled events. When she questioned his coaching decision, she said he gave unspecific and unclear answers.

Jennifer Seitz said she later learned the reason for the punishment was because she attended a school dance, but Robert Seitz said another team member who attended the same function was not punished.

The suit states that the district's administrators and the board of directors believed requiring Klaus receive counseling and making revisions to school coaching policies were sufficient measures to respond to his behavior.

The Seitzes said these actions were ineffective because of his continual infractions over the last year and a half to written policies and ongoing disregard for his athletes' safety.

"We had no desire to go this route, but the failure of the school district to respond appropriately has taken us to this level," Robert Seitz said.

Kathy Seitz said these concerns were brought to the attention of the district's board of directors, the athletic department and the coach himself. The Seitz family said they have taken every internal action that was available to them, but have not seen an acceptable resolution.

"We are distressed at this level of inappropriate behavior is found to be acceptable by the leadership of the school district," Robert Seitz said.

The Seitzes said they want to have this situation resolved as quickly as possible.

"All they have to do is make one right decision and it's over," Robert Seitz said.