Mother files complaint after Clovis student sunburned

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Clovis Unified mother is seeing red after she says her son was forced to take off his undershirt at a track meet, causing second-degree burns.

Heather Valle filed a formal complaint on Friday with the district. She says her son's track coach told him he had to take off his undershirt last week because it was not part of the uniform, but the painful result is why his mother is so upset.

A week later, Ethan Goss still isn't wearing a shirt because of the severe burn on his shoulders. He has doctor's orders to stay inside and take prescriptions including Tylenol with codeine to manage the pain. His mother says she did everything right when her 11-year-old son left for his track meet last Friday morning.

"He left my house protected. He was protected. He had his sunscreen on and his shirt on to protect him, and he only got burnt where this shirt would have covered him and it was removed from him," said Valle.

The fifth grader isn't sensitive to the sun, but four hours straight was too much for his skin. He ran the 100, 400 and 4x100 relay. By the time his mother showed up to cheer him on, much of the damage was already done.

"When I showed up at 3 o'clock, it was almost 3 o'clock, bright red shoulders," said Valle.

Ethan missed the area track meet this Friday because of his sunburn, but several students who competed had similar protective shirts under their uniforms.

Clovis Unified issued a statement to Action News saying, "We do not have a policy that prohibits the use of sun protection clothing under the school track uniform."

Valle met with Ethan's track coach and the principal at Liberty Elementary earlier this week, but claims she didn't get any answers.

"This is my first year in Clovis Unified. If I don't know your rules, let me know and we wouldn't be having a problem," said Valle. "Well there's not really a rule, it's just kind of our unspoken rule. Then they told me, 'well if your son would have spoken up for himself and said he was sun sensitive, then he wouldn't have gotten burned.'"

The statement from the district also confirms the claims are being looked into. It reads, "Upon being contacted by the parent with her complaint earlier this week, the District initiated a third party evaluation of the situation. This investigation is still underway."

Valle says her son is so uncomfortable, he must sleep flat and even then, it's still painful. Ethan's mom says her son is so dedicated that he would run despite his sunburn, but she wants the district to just clarify their policy or make one that is uniform at every school.