$50,000 claim filed over girl's time-out in school from jsonline.com

http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/40036922.html

A school district was sued for $50,000 because teachers put a girl in time-out. While in a time-out room, the student hyperventilated and got nauseous. There were also allegations that the teachers allowed other students to assault this girl in class.

Legal aspects:
In this case a principal would want to know the district or school policy on time out and if there are any state laws prohibiting time out. I don't imagine that there are because time out can be an effective tool at times for de-escalating a student. A principal should know if the students was unsupervised, or in a small closed room, or if the punishment was done out of anger when considering actions against a teacher.

Community aspects:
This article was published in the local paper and there's bound to be both outrage at the school and support for the school. If editorials, parent calls, or public outcry were happening, the superintendent could consider holding an open forum to discuss these issues with the public.