A former Golden Valley High School student has filed a lawsuit against the William S. Hart Union High School District alleging an incident in which she faced serious injuries from a student attacker could have been prevented by the school’s staff.
The civil complaint filed in May 2024 by Julissa Harrison alleges that Golden Valley High School administrators, teachers and staff were aware she was being bullied and harassed by the student who attacked her and failed to take any action to prevent or correct it.
The complaint states that the incident occurred March 14, 2024, in the school’s yard “when she was violently attacked by another student, who was known to have a history of assaults, bullying, harassment, and had been suspended and on campus during school hours. As a result of the attack and bullying, plaintiff sustained serious injuries.”
The complaint goes on to state that Golden Valley failed to provide sufficient supervision of the school yard, allowing the incident to occur.
District Superintendent Michael Vierra, governing board President Cherise Moore and Tara Brown, assistant superintendent of student services, all referred requests for comment to a written statement provided by Debbie Dunn, communications coordinator for the district.
“We cannot discuss individual student issues,” Dunn wrote in the emailed statement, “The Hart district takes all allegations of threats or bullying very seriously. Although every situation is unique, staff have been trained to investigate thoroughly and communicate with families, in order to ensure a safe environment for all students and staff. We encourage students and parents to immediately report safety concerns to school staff including administrators, counselors, social workers, and teachers or through our CareText lines.”
A response filed by the district in July 2024 cites 22 grounds of defense, stating that Harrison was “careless and negligent in and about the matters alleged in the complaint,” alleging that the plaintiff’s complaint doesn’t contain enough facts or legal grounds to make a valid case against the district and the district is not liable for any injury or damage that was caused by someone else.
Hazel Chang, the attorney for Harrison, said the case was still in the very early stages and both parties were gathering information. The plaintiff has requested a trial by jury, but no date has been set yet.
No additional information was available at the time of this story’s publication.
