A new lawsuit contends a Black former student at a Cerritos Christian school was denied re-enrollment for an upcoming school year because his mother spoke out about racially insensitive comments by other pupils that she alleges the administration tried to suppress.
The plaintiff is identified only as D.W. in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit filed July 14 against Valley Christian Schools on his behalf by his mother. The lawsuit alleges civil rights violations, negligence, negligent hiring, supervision and retention, breach of contract and both intentional and negligentful infliction of emotional distress. The suit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
VCS attorney Sarah Risso issued a statement regarding the suit.
“Valley Christian Schools takes the allegations in the complaint very seriously and will proceed forward through this litigation with sensitivity and compassion,” Risso said. “In the interest of the privacy of anyone who may be involved, Valley Christian Schools will not comment on this active litigation and will respond to the claims through the judicial process.”
According to the suit, beginning in 2021, when D.W. was in elementary school, and continuing through the 2025 academic year — after which he was allegedly unlawfully denied re-enrollment for the eighth grade — the plaintiff was subjected to a “pervasive and escalating pattern of bullying, harassment, discrimination and retaliation.”
The alleged misconduct was inflicted on him not only by students, but also by VCS employees who “either committed or condoned the unlawful conduct” or were indifferent to it, the suit contends.
“Despite repeated opportunities to intervene, investigate, remedy, prevent, and protect plaintiff, defendants failed to take appropriate remedial action, if any, thereby allowing the unlawful conduct to continue and intensify,” according to the complaint.
In stark contrast to its stated mission of upholding such Christian values as inclusion, love and respect, the private religious school has failed to honor those principles, the suit states.
White classmates repeatedly called D.W. the “N” word as well as “monkey” and the frequency intensified due to the lack of the administration’s aggressiveness in addressing the problem, the suit alleges.
D.W. also was often called a “snitch” by students angry with him for reporting the alleged racial harassment and one pupil told him, “I know you live in the hood because you’re Black,” the suit states.
D.W.’s mother did not find out about the racial name-calling from the administration, but instead from another parent, the suit further states. Rather than support D.W. in a time of crisis, the administration at the Artesia Boulevard school told the boy to keep quiet about his experiences, the suit alleges.
The suit further contends that the administration used D.W.’s future enrollment as leverage in order to discourage his mother from speaking out about her son’s racial issues, the suit states.
Ultimately, however, VCS denied D.W. re-enrollment for the following academic year, in what the suit contends is “clear retaliation for his and his mother’s repeated efforts to hold defendants accountable for its ongoing discriminatory and unlawful conduct.”
This has been happening at this school for years. It’s about time someone took this seriously and not continue to brush it under the rug. I know of a few people that removed their children from VCS because they were being called out their name and the N word.
There are not enough words to express how wrong this school is. There weee multiple events where the school violated its own mission statement and failed to provide a healthy school environment for this young boy. And, as much as I would like to be shocked I am not because this story is as old as slavery. The continued attacks on black bodies and black minds is on brand for America as Apple pie. This is why we was parents have to be very careful where we place our black children especially our black boys. There is an agenda to keep them Submissive, keep them in perpetual self-doubt and make them feel less than because if they are allowed tk embrace their natural self-confidence it will be a problem for this country and this world. I speak from experience having had an incident with the white female teachers at my son’s elementary school who attempted to make him believe he was not good at math. They attempted to steal that God given talent and almost succeeded before I intervened. Our children depend on us to protect them so we must do our part . Kudos this parent for not allowing this to be swept under the rug. This school has a reputation for these sort of situations and it is about time they are held accountable.