San Diego, CA
San Diego Unified left students 'vulnerable' to sex abuse, federal officials say, but that ends now
San Diego Unified School District officials mishandled multiple student complaints about sexual harassment and sexual assault, in violation of their obligations under federal law, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights announced Friday.
The office found that over a year-three span, 253 reports and complaints of sexual harassment and assault were leveled by students in the district, with almost 40% of those allegations coming from the elementary school level.
The accusations included “student-to-student” and “employee-to-student” misconduct that potentially violated federal statutes including Title IX, according to the Office of Civil Rights, which said the district “more often than not did not fulfill its Title IX regulatory requirement to equitably respond to allegations of sexual harassment of its students.”
The office also announced a resolution, saying Friday morning that the school district had entered an agreement with federal officials to remedy the violations.
Such abuses had “led to serial perpetration of harassment with insufficient district response, leaving district students vulnerable to the sex discrimination in school,” the office said in a news release.
“Through today’s resolution, San Diego Unified commits to overhaul its response to allegations of sexual harassment to ensure all its students learn safely and without sex or disability discrimination,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon said in a statement.
San Diego Unified said in a separate statement Friday evening that the district “remains committed to the safety and wellbeing of all students, and continuously works to assess and improve Title IX compliance.”
The statement continued: “The district holds itself to the highest standards to ensure that students are never harmed, and has a responsibility to acknowledge when harm does occur to maintain transparency and accountability.”
San Diego Unified serves 121,000 students in traditional, special education, adult, alternative and charter schools, making it California’s second-largest school district, behind Los Angeles Unified.
The Office of Civil Rights reported that 98 of the 253 allegations of sexual harassment or assault of students took place at the elementary school level, and said that nine involved employees.
One such elementary school incident involved a student accused of forcing another student to place their hands on a third student’s clothes over their genitals multiple times. District police investigated the incident and the district filed a report with Child Protective Services.
But according to the Office of Civil Rights, the district did not do any further investigation into whether the accused student had sexually harassed fellow students, and didn’t interview anyone involved in the incident.
There were an additional 15 reports involving schools with kindergarteners through eighth-graders; as well as 79 from middle schools; 68 from high schools; and three involving special education. A total of five allegations of employee-to-student incidents came from middle schools and high schools combined, according to the report.
The number of incidents reported in each category add up to more than the total of 253 cited by the Office of Civil Rights; it offered no explanation for the discrepancy.
The district was in litigation over seven cases of alleged sexual assault at the time of the report’s release.
The agreement signed by San Diego Unified calls for the district to make several changes, including:
- Reviewing previous incidents of student-to-student and employee-to-student sexual harassment to determine whether further action is needed for an equitable resolution.
- Giving annual age-appropriate training to third- through 12-graders on how to recognize and report sexual harassment and where to seek support and remedies.
- Surveying parents, students and district employees annually about sexual harassment in schools.
- Reviewing district policies against sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, and its Title IX grievance procedures to ensure they comply with the law.
- Giving annual training to district employees on their obligations to respond to such allegations, including those involving students with disabilities.
- Implementing a system and policy for maintaining data and records on reports, complaints and investigations of sexual harassment, to be approved by the Office of Civil Rights.
- Ensuring the district fulfills its obligations under Title IX even when law enforcement responds to reports of sexual harassment of students.
The Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights “looks forward to working with the district to redress serial perpetration, protect students with disabilities from being preyed upon, and ensure that district students can expect to focus on learning without unlawful sexual harassment,” said Lhamon, the office’s assistant secretary.
San Diego, CA
Feeding San Diego explains the impact of high gas prices on fueling fleet & food rescue
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Gas prices in San Diego County have dipped slightly this week.
But the costs it takes to fill up a fuel tank are getting quite pricey for some food banks.
“We kind of have a triple whammy going on with the fuel situation,” Patty O’Connor, Chief Operating Officer for Feeding San Diego, said.
O’Connor said the first big hit with the current gas prices is bringing the food into Feeding San Diego’s food distribution center.
“We bring about 2 million pounds a month here, and a lot of that is, most of that is rescued food, but we still have to pay for the freight that cost us over $100,000 last month just in freight to bring that in,” O’Connor said.
The organization also sends that food out to the community by truck and by van.
“Every day you’ll see our bright orange trucks going out into the community. We do about 25 deliveries a day, but about 480 over the course of a month, and if you can imagine that costs a lot of money,” O’Connor said.
“In fact, last month, that cost us about $32,000 in just fuel costs. We rely on diesel fuel, and that was twice as much as it was a year ago.”
It’s not only more expensive to fuel the trucks delivering the food, but it’s also more expensive to keep what’s inside them cool.
“And then when we’re loading and unloading, we need to make sure that the trucks are running so that we can keep the food food-safe. So that’s a whole other part of this process that we are managing,” O’Connor said.
Feeding San Diego told ABC 10News they’ve heard from some partners that are on the food rescue side of things that it’s more expensive to drive to pick up those products. So they’ve been able to give some of those partners gas cards to pay for their gas to get food to the community that needs it.
“We look to the community to support us, and so far, um, San Diegans are generous, and they have been generous, and we really do need to continue that generosity so that we can support the struggling families throughout the county,” O’Connor said. “And whatever we can do to support those families, we are going to do so.”
Gloria relents on December Nights, some community cuts in budget revise, but arts funds still on chopping block
by City News Service | Times of San Diego
Some library and recreation center hours and December Nights support were restored in Mayor Todd Gloria’s revised Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Wednesday, but city funding for the arts could still be gutted.
Gloria was joined by civic leaders Wednesday morning to announce changes to his initial proposed budget, released last month. He added “targeted protections” of certain neighborhood priorities and maintained police and fire service levels while arriving at a balanced budget.
Proposed additions include protecting rec center and library hours in Council Districts 4, 8 and 9, represented by Henry L. Foster III, Vivian Moreno and Sean Elo-Rivera, respectively.
Read more
The Learning Curve: He’s San Diego Unified’s Next Trustee – No Race Needed
By Jakob McWhinney | Voice of San Diego
The primary is still nearly a month away. The general election is even further out. Still, it’s already clear that Hayden Gore will be San Diego Unified’s next trustee. That’s because he’s running unopposed to fill the seat left open by current Trustee Cody Petterson, who opted not to run for re-election.
Though he’s a political newcomer, Gore was the early choice of San Diego Unified’s union. In fact, he was recruited by the former president of the San Diego Education Association to run for the seat.
It’s not hard to see why. He’s an avowed progressive and a longtime educator who led the then-newly formed union at High Tech High to its first contract. Exactly the kind of resume that would have SDEA champing at the bit.
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Join Us Friday, July 17, 2026 for the 11th Annual USD School of Law – RJS LAW Tax Institute
By RJS Law
The Institute is the premier annual tax event in San Diego. The region’s top tax attorneys, enrolled agents (EAs), certified public accountants (CPAs), law and business school professors will discuss topics including government loan relief and abuses, challenges in cross-border transactions, and practical and realistic solutions in trust, estate planning, and tax matters.
DATE AND TIME
Friday, July 17, 2026 from 8:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
LOCATION
Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, Theatre
5555 Marian Way, San Diego, CA 92110
EVENT STATUS
Open to the Public
Read More
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – For many families, libraries are a safe space for kids after school and a place to study.
After community outcry, the city is scaling down some of its proposed budget cuts, bringing the original $6.3 million in cuts to libraries down to $4.8 million.
Patrick Stewart, CEO of Library Foundation SD, said the change is a step in the right direction.
“We are very pleased. I think this moves the needle in the right direction.”
Mayor Gloria’s revised budget proposal restores funding focused on youth-centered programs, which includes bringing back library hours in Council Districts 4, 8, and 9 — those in underserved communities.
“This is City Heights and San Isidro, Barrio Logan, and Oak Park, and traditionally, those are smaller branches. And the kids and the families in those communities frankly, they use their library very differently than in a lot of other communities, and it’s a lifeline to them,” said Stewart.
The City Heights library is among those included in the mayor’s revised budget to restore funding. While library officials say this is a good first step, there is still concern about long-term financial challenges.
In order to voice concerns about how deep the cuts go, the Library Foundation has created a way for supporters to express that through postcards. Thousands of cards have been mailed directly to Mayor Gloria and councilmembers.
Stewart said the effort is making an impact.
“They’re seeing that this is hundreds and hundreds of people that are taking this very seriously, so it helps them to know immediately what their community feels like when it comes to these proposed cuts,” he added.
The restored funding would also keep Monday hours at Carmel Valley Library and protect the North Clairemont Library branch from closure.
Library officials remain optimistic as the revised budget heads back to the City Council.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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