School officials being sued over the treatment of two high school-aged victims of sexual assault have been given another month to respond to the accusations, which were filed Feb. 14 in U.S. District Court in Boston. According to court documents, the defendants were unprepared to meet the May 1 deadline due to the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down schools March 14 and through the remainder of the academic year. A judge approved the request Wednesday, two days before the responses were expected. The defendants are Superintendent Gregg Gilligan and High School Principal Chet Jackson, Assistant Principals Scott Young and Brooke Randall, along with the Town of North Andover, the School District and School Committee. In asking for the time extension, their joint attorney John Davis said his clients have “experienced some difficulties and delays in communicating with one another and in obtaining and developing the information necessary to prepare responses.” The lawsuit was filed by two former students and one of their parents who say reports of rape and sexual assault were mishandled at North Andover High. The girls, whose identities are protected in court documents, are represented by Attorney Andrew Miltenberg. He wants the case to be “a warning for schools throughout the country of how not to handle Title IX investigations.”