California AG announces sweeping settlement with El Monte HS District after decades of student abuse
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a sweeping settlement Wednesday with the El Monte Union School District following what he described as “horrific, unacceptable and disgusting child abuse” that spanned decades at Rosemead High School.
The agreement requires wide-ranging reforms after a state investigation revealed years of sexual misconduct by faculty and staff and repeated failures by district officials to properly report or investigate the allegations.
“A teacher engaged in sexual harassment and abuse for years and had at least four sexual relationships with students over a period of more than 20 years,” Bonta said at a news conference.
These revelations prompted Sen. Sasha Renee Perez to author the Safe Learning Environments Act, which took effect earlier this year and strengthens reporting and accountability requirements for schools across the state.
Leslie Gaitán, a former Rosemead High student, said the new measures could have changed her experience on campus.
“You had to look out for yourself while you were there, because no one else was going to protect you while you were there,” Gaitán said. “But I think with this change, I hope this kind of behavior will stop.”
El Monte Union High School District officials declined an interview but released a written statement saying the district “is committed to continually improving how it addresses concerns and supports students in safe learning environments… These efforts aim to strengthen safe, inclusive and respectful learning environments throughout the district.”
The settlement requires the district to adopt new training, reporting protocols, monitoring mechanisms and student support systems. Bonta said the reforms aim to ensure that systemic failures that allowed abuses to persist for years “will never happen again.”
