Bishop Unified School District Settlement Agreement for Harming Students During COVID-19 Pandemic

 Bishop Unified School District to Pay $400,000 and Conduct Training for All Employees in Settlement Agreement for Harming Students During COVID-19 Pandemic

Bishop, California – May 11, 2023. With the help of retired U.S. Federal Judge Stephen G. Larson, Bishop Unified School District (BUSD) and a group of Parents who filed claims for damages for violation of their children’s civil rights finalized a settlement on April 27, 2023. Not only is the school district required to pay $400,000 because of the harm suffered by the children, BUSD must also provide counseling and tutoring for the students, and training for all BUSD faculty and staff on “public health, response to public health emergencies, informed consent, and bullying/harassment/retaliation issues.”

BUSD ignored federal informed consent laws and committed many civil rights violations, including discrimination, segregation, bullying, harassment, retaliation and denial of a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). At one school, many healthy students were forced to remain outside in cold winter weather because they did not consent to wearing masks. Some unmasked students were segregated outside of classrooms while other children, also not wearing masks, were allowed to fully participate in normal classroom activities depending on the teacher

https://www.inyoregister.com/news/district-agrees-to-400-000-settlement-over-covid-policies/article_5c6ff8f8-efd6-11ed-8494-536fb53817e2.html

Safety Concerns Linger at Ingraham High

 

"On Nov. 8, 17-year-old Ebenezer Haile was shot by another student in a school hallway. The next day, Jones announced a new safety initiative: Seattle Public Schools would assemble a community action team of school, police, city and community leaders to assess how safety can be improved at schools and surrounding neighborhoods. 

To address mental health, a child wellness team made up of psychologists, counselors, pediatricians and social workers would be launched. Jones also said the district would conduct an audit of safety plans at Ingraham and safety reviews of the district’s 106 schools.

The district says it has accomplished all of those tasks. But Friends of Ingraham, a nonprofit group led by Ingraham High parents, has sent three letters to the district asking for more information.

The group asked for the outcome of the audit, what safety policies and procedures have been changed as a result, and whether policies and procedures leading up to the shooting and following the shooting were followed.

The parent group had a discussion with Jones set up in March, but it was delayed, said Kathleen Zagers, co-president of Friends of Ingraham. A meeting is set for this week."

 

https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/safety-concerns-linger-six-months-after-teen-killed-at-ingraham-high/

State Report Finds WA Education Agency Hasn’t Tracked Federal Funds Effectively

 "Washington’s education department hasn’t adequately tracked how schools are spending hundreds of millions in federal aid earmarked for pandemic learning loss, according to an audit ordered by state lawmakers.

The report says the agency failed to collect sufficient data about interventions meant to help kids recover from learning loss, and has not monitored whether the investments are helping students improve academically "

 https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/state-report-finds-wa-education-agency-hasnt-tracked-federal-funds-effectively/