The new CA law aims to prevent sexual abuse in schools

From Carolyn JonesCalmness

This story was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

California K-12 schools will take distant steps to prevent sexual abuse in the campus-incorporating a database of teachers who are investigating for misconduct-according to a new law signed by Governor Gavin News.

Senate Bill 848sponsored by State Senator Sasha Renee PerezDemocrat from Alhambra, derives from Briefly of the last lawsuits over sexual abuse in schools in California as well News report For decades of sexual abuse by at least a dozen teachers in a high school in her area.

“I am proud that this account is moving forward. It was really personal to me,” said Perez, who They recently told Calmatters That she is a victim of the inappropriate interest of the teacher while she was in high school. “For survivors, this is an important step towards justice.”

The law enters into force on January 1 and applies to all K-12 schools in California, including private schools.

Among other things, the law requires schools to train teachers, coaches and other school staff how to prevent and report a sexual disorder; expands the number of staff that are required to report allegations of abuse; and requires schools to write comprehensive policies for appropriate behavior.

But the database is probably the most significant change. Administered by the California Committee on Teachers’ Identification Conditions, the database aims to stop teachers facing credible allegations of abuse and redirect abuse at another school that potentially abuses more children. The database will be available to schools as part of the process of screening their employees and will be updated if the allegations against a teacher are unfounded.

Despite AB 218Which facilitated victims to sue school districts and other government agencies for sexual abuse. The law has opened a Lawsuits So far, more than $ 3 billion is worth the schools in California and have led some areas to the brink of bankruptcy.

Failure of another bill

The big payments have inspired another bill this year, which would provide some relief for school districts facing court cases over decades of abuse, and still allow the victims to be compensated. Senate Bill Sb 577Sponsored by State Senator John Liert, Democrat by Santa Cruz, stagnant in the meeting.

The bill did not restrict the appliances or lawyer’s fees, but called for a statute of limitations for an older incident and would make it easier for school districts to issue bonds to pay settlements in California, mostly $ 10 million in California.

“I’m disappointed that SB 577 won’t progress this year,” Liert says in an email. “I hoped to protect the access of the survivors to justice until I found some fiscal relief for the local authorities. Despite these months, hard work was simply impossible to balance these interests in order to achieve a successful result this year.”

Lieir said he hoped to resurrect the bill next year.

Financial difficulties for areas

The school districts were devastated by the failure of the SB 577. Some canceled pre -school programs and excursions, frozen salaries or fired staff and took other steps to pay legal agreements. The costs come at a difficult time for schools, as pandemic grants have recently expired and enrollment continues to decline in many parts of the state.

The Montesito Union School, a 350 students near Santa Barbara, last month, a 7.5 million dollars-budding case, half of its annual budget-for suspected sexual abuse by a former employee between 1972 and 1978.

Carpinteria Unified is also affected.

“We are very disappointed that legislators have not been able to help the school districts in California, who have been forced to defend themselves for decades of claims, spending millions of dollars that influence current students and families,” says Diana Rigby, Chief of Carpinteria Unified. “Our area was heavily influenced by the financial burden of defense of four court cases from the 70s.”

SB 577 advocates said lawyers for trial were behind the failure of the bill. Attorneys earn up to 30% to 40% of legal agreements and advertise around California in search of people who have been abused in schools.

In the last days of the legislative session, the ads have spread to social media, including a photo of Assembly President Robert Rivas with the words “Stop the Protection of the Predator” and “Stand with Victims of Children.” The ads were paid by the MANLY Law Firm, Stewart & Finaldi, a national company with Irvine and Riverside offices, which specializes in claims of sexual abuse.

John Manley, a company partner, said he had bought the ads for pressure on Rivas to reject the bill.

“If I have to spend every last penny to protect a child from abuse, I will do it,” Manley said. “I spent my career in this and I will not stop.”

MANLY, the leading lawyer in the trial of the former Olympic team, Larry Nasar, said he would fight any legislation to restrict court cases. He also said that Perez’s bill does not go far enough: he should include allegations of reporting crimes of reporters who do not report abuse, and this should require school districts to publish the names of staff who were “credited” for sexual disorders.

He expects the battle to continue next year and afterS

California’s consumer lawyers, a lobbying group, were neutral under the Laird bill.

“Although CAOC did not have an official position on the bill, we decided that it had reached the right balance between the protection of survivors and addressing public entities,” said Jonathan Underland, a spokesman for California Consumer Bar. “We were disappointed when we saw it did not cross the final line.”

Ultimately, state political leaders will have to take action in court cases, as too many schools and government agencies are brought to bankrupt, threatening programs that millions of people rely on, said Ben Adler, director of public issues of the California Association of Counties.

“God bless Senator Lair that he had taken this. It was a grateful task,” Adler said. “By moving forward, there must be a way to guarantee the fairness of the survivors without bankrupt the schools and cities that provide a social security network. The governor and the legislature will have to make everyone in one room understand this.”

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.