Feds Say Sexual Harassment and Violence is Prevalent at West County Schools

Surveillance cameras, including more than 100 at Richmond High School alone, have helped reduce crime at West Contra Costa Unified schools, according to the district superintendent in a press release Thursday. 

The claims that district schools are safer than they were in previous years, followed an announcement Wednesday that federal investigators from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found “sexually harassing, student-on-student behavior permeated the educational environment at school sites and that the district has not undertaken school-wide or district-wide initiatives sufficient to address it.”

The feds are requiring WCCUSD to take several remedies, including hiring a consultant with expertise in sexual harassment prevention and annual training for all staff.

The investigation started in March 2010, just a few months after a 15-year-old girl was raped by multiple attackers on campus during a school dance at Richmond High School. 

While school climate surveys show improvement at Richmond High School, the number of students who feel safe at Hercules High School declined between the 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years, according to the California Department of Education. A score measuring perceived school safety dropped 14 points between 2011 and 2012, bringing the high school to nearly the bottom 10 percent when compared to schools with similar demographics. Only 60 percent of parents surveyed thought that the school was a safe place for their kids.