California doesn’t require schools or districts to have specific policies spelling out what type of interactions between educators and students aren’t allowed.
But districts that don’t have those policies are increasingly finding that the lack of them can be costly.
As VOSD’s Kayla Jimenez reports, “in several cases across San Diego County over the last decade, school districts have paid out millions of dollars as a result of lawsuits from students abused by educators who argued the schools did not have sufficient policies in place to protect them.”
Jennifer Creighton, an attorney for the Sweetwater Union High School District, which has paid millions to settle cases from students abused by educators, expressed skepticism that policies or training would stop a would-be abuser, but she did acknowledge that it could help observers spot warning signs and report them.
“Every parent has to have their kids in school. They’re required to trust those people with their children,” said Anthony DeMarco, an attorney who works on child abuse cases. “We want to make sure the schools are training teachers that they should not be engaging in inappropriate activities like unmonitored communications or alone time with students.”
Tijuana Group Is Taking on Migrants’ Rights in Court
Whenever the Trump administration enacts a controversial immigration policy, you can count on the ACLU or another advocacy organization to instantly challenge it in court.
But that’s not the case in Mexico, where strategic lawsuits meant to expand migrants’ rights are rare.
In this week’s Border Report, Maya Srikrishnan spotlights one Tijuana-based group that’s hoping to change that.
Alma Migrante, founded last year, has already taken on about a half-dozen strategic lawsuits so far. It also works with shelters and other groups to raise awareness about migrants’ rights.
“Mexico has good laws in comparison to many Latin America countries,” Graciela Zamudio, the group’s founder, told VOSD. “We have ways to access justice. The problem we’re seeing is that not only migrants don’t know them, but those who are advocating don’t know them either.”
Officials Are Still Navigating the Legal Pot Landscape
Chula Vista is struggling to quickly close down unlicensed marijuana businesses because of a bureaucratic process in which appeals can drag on for months, reports the Union-Tribune.
Meanwhile, Imperial Beach might allow an additional legal dispensary in the city after OKing only one.
A few miles to the south, Mexican officials set fire to a marijuana grow site in northern Tijuana that officials said likely would have been smuggled into the United States.
In Other News
- The tree in Ellen Browning Scripps Park thought to have inspired Dr. Seuss’s “The Lorax,” has fallen down. (Los Angeles Times)
- Chula vista paid almost $400,000 in an eminent domain case in which is took over a resident’s land in order to build a new fire station. (Union-Tribune)
- Rep. Susan Davis surprised a crowd of environmentalists this weekend when she announced her support for the Green New Deal. Rep. Scott Peters, meanwhile, has said he does not support the proposal. (Times of San Diego)
Correction
Sunday’s What We Learned This Week newsletter said Sen. Toni Atkins spoke while accepting an award from LEAD San Diego. She spoke at the award ceremony but did not receive an award.
The Morning Report was written by Sara Libby.