Woodland Joint Unified "negligence" enabled sex assault of student with special needs, lawsuit alleges

CBS News

24-04-2025

WOODLAND -- In a three-part investigative series, CBS13 spent several months investigating allegations that the Woodland Joint Unified School District (WJUSD) is "failing" its students in special education.
In part one, a parent and advocate allege that the federal education rights of students with special needs are being violated on a regular basis. In part two, former district teachers speak out about their negative classroom experiences while also pointing to a broken public education system nationwide.
In this final story in the series, a Woodland mother is on a mission to hold the district accountable after she says her daughter with special needs was sexually assaulted at school.
"There should have been more supervision:" Taking the fight to Yolo County court
In February 2026, a Woodland mother will meet WJUSD before a Yolo County Superior Court judge at trial. She filed a civil lawsuit against the district in August 2024.
The mother agreed to speak with CBS13 under the condition of anonymity to protect her daughter's identity, who was a minor at the time of the alleged incident.
"This was preventable, which is, I think, the biggest tragedy here," the mother said.
The lawsuit alleges her daughter was sexually assaulted by another student in a bathroom at Pioneer High School and was left with lifelong trauma.
"The crux of this lawsuit is that the district should have and could have protected your child, and they didn't?" I asked.
"Yes, that's correct," the mother said.
Her child had been in district special education classes since kindergarten. She is diagnosed with multiple intellectual disabilities and struggles to communicate effectively.
As the lawsuit alleges, in July 2023, her daughter was enrolled in a summer special education program at Pioneer High School when the unthinkable happened.
"I received a phone call that police were on their way," the mother said.
The lawsuit alleges she suffered "sexual abuse perpetrated by a fellow classmate as the direct result of inadequate supervision by WJUSD."
Her daughter had been followed to the restroom by another student and at that time, the lawsuit and mother allege, the student forced her to have sex with him inside the locked bathroom.
"There was sexual intercourse for her in the bathroom, in a school special ed bathroom. She did verbalize that she had said no," the mother said.
The Woodland Police Department responded to the incident at Pioneer High that day.
Further, the lawsuit claims the district was already "aware of the student perpetrator's dangerous sexual propensities" and claims the student had been filmed kissing the plaintiff on a prior occasion.
As the lawsuit reads, despite "specific steps being taken to separate the students during the school year and additional supervision" in the summer Extended School Year program hosted at Pioneer High that "staff failed to take any preventative or safety measures" and even put the two students in the same class.
The lawsuit reads, "WJUSD failed to take any initiative to protect the Plaintiff as a Summer Program student. Shockingly, WJUSD did not inform the Plaintiff's Summer Program teacher, or other paraprofessionals, about the prior incident... Plantiff's teacher readily admits that, had she known of the prior incident(s), she would have taken additional measures to ensure the Plaintiff's safety. Instead, WJUSD neglected the safety of one of its most vulnerable students."
The mother says school leaders made her aware of the prior kissing incident by phone call but says she was not told that there were further unwanted advances by this student. She also says she was not aware that it was serious enough for school staff to have a plan in place to keep the students separated.
She says she didn't find that out until after she filed the lawsuit.
"How does that make you feel as a parent?" I asked.
"Slighted," the mother responded. "I'm putting my child on a bus to go somewhere, and I believe they will be safe and well cared for and looked after, and that just wasn't the case."
After the alleged assault, a police report was filed and her daughter was sent to the hospital.
"I told her she's not in trouble. I was there to help her and everything was going to be OK. I never dreamed that me defining sex to her would be after the fact in an emergency room on a gurney. I'm sorry," the mother paused. "Her description was that his privates had gone into hers."
The lawsuit further alleges the student perpetrator admitted to police that he had engaged in sexual activity with the same victim on at least two prior occasions at Pioneer High.
As the lawsuit lays out, "the sexual assault had a devastating impact on the Plaintiff's emotional well-being. Since the incident, the Plaintiff's Mother has taken every possible measure to address the trauma, including treatment from three specialized trauma therapists, but to little avail."
The mother says that her daughter has not been the same since.
"A lot changed. She regressed. She regressed back to toddler-like stages in a variety of ways. Getting on the school bus was not something she wanted to do. Emotional outbursts, trouble sleeping. Physically and medically, there have been additional diagnoses. Every day is something of a struggle for her," she said through tears.
The lawsuit also alleges she has resorted at times to "urinating where she stands due to her extreme fear of restrooms."
She eventually had to be admitted to a 24/7 residential treatment facility due to these behaviors and, additionally, what the lawsuit describes as "horrific self-harm."
The student is now enrolled at a new school outside of Woodland on a path to healing with a lot of support.
"The impact that this has had to her and will continue to have through the remainder of her life is... I just don't even have words," the mother said.
She says she filed the lawsuit for relief on past, present and future damages and to hold the district accountable for "negligently failing" to keep her child safe.
"There should have been more supervision for my special needs daughter," the mother said.
CBS13 asked WJUSD to respond to the allegations in the lawsuit. As is standard practice, a district spokesperson said they do not comment on existing litigation.
Court documents obtained by CBS13 show that attorneys for WJUSD, in their official response to the court, issued a blanket denial of all of the allegations in September 2024.
Their response also reads that the district "...denies the Plaintiff was or will be damaged in the sum or sums alleged, or in any sum whatsoever or at all."
This civil case is set for trial in early February.