California Business Litigation Blog

Corona del Mar High School was recently put in the national spotlight when the school's cancellation of the musical "Rent" was reversed. Things have gotten a bit worse as the Newport Mesa Unified School District is now facing a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union. The lawsuit states that the school allowed a "sexist and homophobic environment" for students on campus.

Corona del Mar High School administrators are at the center of the lawsuit. The lawsuit specifically states that the atmosphere created at the school was hostile to "female, lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender students in general, and has led to despicable threats of violence against one student in particular."

The school district does not believe all claims in the lawsuit and is said to be working on resolving the issues involved.

The lawsuit in part stems from the threats of violence found in a video posted online in which three students from the school were allegedly making slurs towards gays. Another student was allegedly threatened, and left the campus out of fear.

The problems originated when the school pulled an edited version of the rock opera "Rent" from the musical department. The musical portrays gay characters that battle AIDS and do drugs. Originally, the musical was pulled by the principal until the script could be reviewed, after which it was put back on.

The lawsuit states that those students were not punished harshly enough for their actions and therefore the school is being discriminatory. It claims that when students use anti gay slurs in front of teachers, students go unpunished. The ACLU is seeking damages on the behalf of the students, training for students and the schoolteachers and administrators and a statement stating that the school violated the civil rights laws in place.

Posted by Richard Oppenheim | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Education   Education Law   School District Law   School Lawsuit

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In a recent ruling on the method used to send children in the Berkeley Unified School District to school, the school system was found not to be discriminating. The American Civil Rights Foundation who believed the method of selecting children for schools was unfair challenged the system.

States have implemented affirmative policies that help to foster diversity within the school systems. Courts are often faced with making decisions on whether these policies have gone too far and in themselves are now discriminatory based on race.

The policy in question was one, which had the goals of achieving social diversity. The school system uses a unique process to determine the location of the child's school. They base this on the neighborhood demographics. The policy in no way considers race, the court found, and therefore is not doing anything illegal by working to promote diversity in the system.

The assignment policy for the school district takes into fact a variety of components. This includes the student's residential neighborhood, the average household income in that neighborhood, the average education level of the adults living there, and the racial composition of the entire neighborhood, but not the student. When the demographics of a neighborhood are in use rather than the student's race itself, there is no case of discrimination against the student nor is the student receiving preferential treatment.

For those of you in school district management, whether or not you are a Sylvester, Oppenheim & Linde client, you will find the court’s opinion very educational. We invite you to read or download it by clicking on the following link: Court of Appeal Opinion A121137.

Posted by Richard Oppenheim | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Education   Education Law   School District Law   School Lawsuit

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