Moreno Valley schools must change their policing policy for students and bring in an outside party to implement new policies that protect students, a federal judge has ruled.
The ruling follows a 2020 complaint by a parent who alleged that campus resource officers at a Moreno Valley Unified School District middle school discriminated against an 11-year-old Black student when they handcuffed him four separate times for displaying non-threatening, disability-related defiance.
“This follows an October 2023 court ruling that MVUSD had a discriminatory practice of contracting with the local Sheriff Department and employing Campus Security Officers to operate a discipline system that led to the pervasive brutalization of disabled students on district campuses,” a Monday, July 8, news release from an attorney representing the family states.
The district’s practices have allowed for the “disproportionate suffering of Black disabled students,” who were almost four times more likely than their peers to be harmed by law enforcement in the 2019-20 school year, the attorney’s news release alleges.
“Although I am a new superintendent to the district, I have confidence that we will work together to address any concerns, especially as it relates to student safety,” the district’s new leader, Alejandro Ruvalcaba, said in a Tuesday, July 9, email.
He said the district cannot detail its plans because it is still reviewing them.
“We value the safety and security of our students and we are committed to seek ways to improve our systems,” he wrote.
Federal Court Judge Jesus Bernal ruled June 28 that the district must implement new policies or modify its current policies for school resource officers in order to protect students with disabilities. The district employs officers from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
The court order outlines that the district will be responsible for annually reporting data, including:
The removal of students from classrooms or a campus by district employees.
Removals of students from classrooms or a campus by law officers.
Use of restraints such as handcuffs on students.
Use of restraints such handcuffs on students by law officers.
Bernal’s order requires the district to bring in a third party to ensure that changes are made.
The district agreed to use Jamie Hernandez, of the Office of the Independent Monitor, which has worked with the Los Angeles Unified School District.
“This case provides a roadmap for how to aggressively challenge that and come out on top and bring about lasting change within the district,” said David Washington, an attorney representing the family, which was not named in the release because of privacy concerns. “I have a lot of faith in Dr. Hernandez. He’s done a lot of great work in other districts.”
Hernandez will be responsible for proposing and overseeing a plan of action to bring the district into compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of thefederal Rehabilitation Act.
Under the ruling, the district will contract with Hernandez for four years.
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The family will receive a financial settlement, which has yet to be finalized, Washington said.
The ruling marks the latest legal trouble for the Riverside County school district.
In 2023, the district agreed to a $27 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by the family of middle school student Diego Stolz, who was the victim of a fatal beating by bullies in 2019.
The district was targeted in a lawsuit filed in 2021 alleging that it was partially liable for the molestation of two students who attended school in the district in the 1990s. In October 2023, a jury found the district liable for the molestation of the two men and awarded them $135 million.
