KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? A teenager has sued the Kansas City, Kan., school district for her alleged rape by another student on her first day at Washington High School in August 2001.

The lawsuit, filed on the girl’s behalf by her mother, claims the school district failed to take reasonable steps to protect the girl from her attacker. The mother and daughter, identified in court documents only by their initials, are seeking more than $75,000 in damages.

Originally filed in Wyandotte County District Court, the suit on Monday was moved by the school district to U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., because the girl alleged that her constitutional rights were violated.

The school district also filed an answer to the lawsuit, saying it lacked “sufficient knowledge or information to admit or deny” many of the allegations. The district also contended in part that the girl’s claims should be barred if it was determined that the sex was consensual.

The school district’s attorney declined to comment.

The school district acknowledged in its answer that the girl was one of about 150 students who did not receive their schedules on the first day of classes in August 2001.

While most of those students were taken to the school’s cafeteria on the first day of classes, the girl and four other students were assigned to a counselor’s office. The girl contends in the lawsuit that no faculty or staff members were in the office.

According to the lawsuit, one of the four students — a 17-year-old male — took the girl to a secluded area of the school, forced her into an unlocked janitor’s closet and raped her.

The attacker pleaded guilty to aggravated indecent liberties with a minor, according to the lawsuit.