A judge has denied the Los Angeles Unified School District access to school records of the half-sister of a 15-year-old girl whose mother is suing the district regarding the teen’s 2022 fatal drug overdose in a bathroom at Bernstein High School in Hollywood.
Plaintiff Elena Perez’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges that school officials knew there was a problem with drug use at the campus, but took no action that could have saved her daughter, Melanie Ramos. The coroner’s report stated that Melanie died from an accidental overdose of fentanyl on Sept. 13, 2022.
Perez also has a second daughter, who is 9 years old and is identified in the suit only as Briana D.P. The girl is Melanie’s half-sister.
The district’s lawyers filed a subpoena in August asking that Rise Kohyang High School, which Melanie attended before transferring to Bernstein High, produce attendance and disciplinary records regarding Briana D.P. Melanie and her sibling lived in the same household when both attended Rise Kohyang High.
The district maintained that the Rise Kohyang High records could shed light on whether the two girls had high absenteeism rates or other problems and could also indicate the degree to which Perez was involved in her daughters’ education.
Perez’s lawyers maintained in their motion to quash the LAUSD subpoena that it invaded Briana D.P.’s privacy rights. During a hearing Monday, Judge Lisa R. Jaskol agreed.
“The court concludes that the subpoena violates Briana D.P.’s privacy rights because it does not seek records that are directly relevant to (the LAUSD’s) claims or defenses,” the judge wrote.
Melanie was found dead on a bathroom floor at the school at about 8 p.m. after the family claims that school officials realized she was missing. Authorities said the girl ingested a pill she thought was Percocet, but was believed to be laced with fentanyl. Another girl who had been with Melanie earlier and had overdose symptoms survived.
Days later, police announced the arrest of a 15-year-old boy who allegedly sold the drug to the two students on the Bernstein campus, and a 16-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly peddling drugs to another student at nearby Lexington Park.
Then-Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore said both suspects were students at APEX Academy charter school, which is located on the Bernstein High School campus.
The teen’s death also prompted the district to announce that all of its campuses would be supplied with the anti-overdose medication Narcan. In October 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law SB 10, known as Melanie’s Law and named after Melanie Ramos. The law requires public schools to train employees on opioid prevention techniques and response, and to increase awareness about the dangers of fentanyl.
Perez sued the district in December 2022.