photo credit: Sonoma County Regional Parks
The Russian River near Fitch Mountain east of Healdsburg, near the Rio Lindo Academy.

A private Christian school in Healdsburg is being sued after the death of a student last August. 

The wrongful death lawsuit was filed on December 17th by the parents of the deceased 15 year old student of Rio Lindo Adventist Academy.

"We contend that they negligently conducted this, effectively a slip-and-slide activity at the school," said Jack Sanford, an attorney for the couple bringing the lawsuit against the school.

"[The slip-and-slide] was a school-sanctioned event, where they put on a 100 ft long, make shift slip and slide, made out of a black tarp down a steep hillside," Sanford said.

The student died after using the makeshift water slide on the boarding school campus near the Russian River east of Healdsburg.

The lawsuit claims the student died of injuries sustained from the slide. The county coroner's report ruled the cause of death as undetermined according to a report obtained by the Press Democrat.

Sanford alleges he believes the set-up of the makeshift water slide was negligent, and directly led to the students death.

"We certainly hope that the school will change their behavior," Sanford said.

A spokesperson for Rio Lindo Academy and the Northern California Conference of Seventh Day Adventists declined to comment on the court case itself, but school representatives said they are focused on student safety; and supporting, students, staff, and the school community in the healing process.