After a five-year court battle, a north Minneapolis charter school has reached a tentative settlement with a former student sexually assaulted by his basketball coach.
In 2020, the student sued Harvest Best Academy for failing to properly vet the teacher, Aaron Hjermstad, before he was hired in 2016. Hjermstad’s contract at Excell Academy, a Brooklyn Park charter school, was not renewed in 2015 after another student said he was sexually assaulted by Hjermstad.
The lawsuit worked its way up to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which ruled in February that the school could be held liable for negligent hiring. Harvest Best Academy had argued that public school hiring decisions were a governmental policy function and thus protected from lawsuits, but the court said schools could sometimes be held liable for hiring decisions. The case was sent back to district court to decide whether the school was negligent in this instance. Harvest Best requested that Hennepin County District Judge Jamie Anderson dismiss the case. Anderson held a hearing on that motion on July 28.
But before the judge could issue a ruling on the motion, Molly Burke, an attorney representing the survivor, filed a letter to the judge in court on Aug. 5. “The parties have reached a settlement agreement in principle,” Burke’s letter said. “A dismissal will be forthcoming once the settlement is finalized.”
“This survivor has been through a lot and has fought very hard for a very long time, him and his family,” Burke told Sahan Journal. She declined to comment further.
Emily Peterson, the executive director of Harvest Best Academy, declined to comment on the tentative settlement.
“While the Academy acknowledges the recent court filing that refers to resolution efforts, the Academy does not comment on pending litigation,” she said.
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Hjermstad taught at Excell Academy in Brooklyn Park until 2015, when a student reported Hjermstad had sexually abused him. Excell Academy placed Hjermstad on administrative leave and did not renew his contract for the following year. Police investigated, but the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office did not file charges.
A year later, Hjermstad was hired at the Mastery School in north Minneapolis as a physical education teacher. According to court documents, when Hjermstad interviewed for the position at Mastery, the school did not call Excell Academy. Mastery also did not call any of Hjermstad’s references.
At the time, Mastery was part of a group of charter schools that are now consolidated as Harvest Best Academy. The school predominantly serves African American students.
During his four years teaching and coaching basketball at the Mastery School, Hjermstad abused more children. When another boy came forward in 2020, charges were filed, and the 2015 case was charged as well.
Hjermstad was criminally convicted in 2021 for abusing four boys, including the student who filed the lawsuit. He faces additional charges for abusing 12 more children. He is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence.
A different student filed another lawsuit in March against Harvest Best and her former teacher at the school, Abdul Wright, the 2016 Minnesota Teacher of the Year. That lawsuit alleges that the school was negligent and failed to protect the student and take action against Wright after a family member reported the abuse to the school.
Harvest Best Academy’s founder, Eric Mahmoud, was ousted by the school’s board after the lawsuit regarding Wright was filed.
Wright was criminally charged in August 2024 for sexually assaulting a student. His criminal trial is scheduled to begin on Aug. 25. The civil case has been put on hold until the criminal case concludes.
Correction: Aaron Hjermstad’s role in the plaintiff’s school career has been updated in this story.
