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A Southern California school district agreed to sweeping reforms Friday in settling a state attorney general investigation into how it handled allegations staff sexually abused students.

The with the El Monte Union High School District draws to a close an 18-month investigation, which found 鈥渟ystemic shortfalls in the district鈥檚 response to allegations and complaints of sexual harassment, assault, and abuse of students.鈥� The investigation was spurred by a 2023 article in Business Insider, , which documented decades of sexual misconduct by teachers, coaches and other staff at one of the district鈥檚 schools, Rosemead High, ranging from sexual harassment and groping to statutory rape.

鈥淓very child deserves to learn and grow in a safe and supportive school environment. Unfortunately, our investigation found that this has not always been the case for students enrolled in El Monte Union High School District,鈥� Attorney General Rob Bonta said. District administrators, he added, 鈥渃onsistently mishandled students鈥� complaints of sexual harassment, assault, and abuse by District employees and others. In doing so, it jeopardized the safety and well-being of its students and violated the community鈥檚 trust. Today鈥檚 settlement marks a beginning, not an end. I am hopeful that the District will move swiftly to implement the reforms required by this settlement, and my office will be monitoring closely to ensure its compliance.鈥�

In an emailed statement, El Monte Superintendent Edward Zuniga said that 鈥渟tudent safety and well-being remain our highest priorities. This agreement reflects our continued commitment to strengthening systems that support safe, inclusive, and respectful learning environments.鈥�

Reforms mandated after investigation

Among other changes, the stipulated judgment requires the district to designate a compliance coordinator to investigate complaints of sexual harassment or abuse and creates a centralized system to store documents related to investigations. It also requires the district to maintain a list of substitute teachers found to have violated the district鈥檚 employee policy on appropriate boundaries with students. The agreement requires the district to establish an advisory committee to study its compliance with the reforms and make additional recommendations, and to provide students and parents with training for how to recognize the signs of grooming 鈥� curriculum that Rosemead students have fought to have implemented for the past four years.

The agreement is a rare instance of state law enforcement taking an active role in a K-12 school district鈥檚 compliance with California education code and mandated reporting laws. The only other agreement like it was with the Redlands Unified School District, following sexual abuse and misconduct allegations that in legal settlements. In El Monte鈥檚 case, announced Friday by Bonta at a press conference in Los Angeles, the judgment requires four years of court-supervised oversight, and includes sweeping reforms in how the district handles serious misconduct allegations.

In an interview with CalMatters, Bonta said that his office was focused on trying to establish best practices for school districts across the state in how to address sexual misconduct allegations when they surface. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think this will be the last case of this type, unfortunately,鈥� Bonta said, adding that his staff would conduct unannounced site visits of the district in the months ahead to ensure compliance with the settlement. 鈥淲e think we鈥檝e arrived at a model that can really help districts that have failed systemically, transform.鈥�

Attorneys in the justice department鈥檚 Bureau of Children’s Justice conducted the investigation, which focused on the district鈥檚 handling of sexual misconduct allegations against school staff since 2018. It included a review of more than 100 complaints, thousands of pages of documents, and interviews with more than two dozen employees, former students and others. The investigation found that district officials had failed to properly respond to complaints, provide adequate reporting procedures and adequately maintain records of misconduct allegations.

The findings mirror those first identified by Business Insider, which sued the school district for not releasing records under the California Public Records Act. , with district administrators agreeing to conduct new searches for records and pay $125,000 in legal fees. The district’s head of human resources, Robin Torres, said in a deposition that her office had discarded disciplinary records it was legally obligated to keep. She acknowledged that her predecessors had failed to properly investigate allegations that staff had sexually harassed students or had sex with former students soon after they graduated.

Years of sex abuse allegations

The stipulated judgment is the latest fallout from generations of Rosemead High students coming forward to share their stories of being preyed upon and groomed for sexual relationships at school. The LA Sheriff鈥檚 Department into at least three former staffers, while students and several teachers resigned following district investigations. At least five civil lawsuits .聽 Many were represented by attorneys Dominique Boubion and Michael Carrillo, who previously brought a case against the district that resulted in a $5 million verdict in favor of a former student who said she was abused by a teacher after he was accused of fondling children.

鈥�The attorney general鈥檚 intervention confirms what survivors have been saying for years: EMUHSD failed its students,鈥� Boubion told CalMatters. 鈥淭his was not an isolated breakdown. It was a longstanding failure to protect children, and it stretches back decades. The district should stop resisting and start complying. Students have the right to be safe at school.鈥�

A new state law, the , took effect earlier this year and gives school officials more tools to identify suspected misconduct. State Sen. Sasha Ren茅e P茅rez, a Democrat from Alhambra whose district includes Rosemead High, authored .

Among other reforms, the law establishes the creation of a non-public database of alleged staff misconduct that administrators are required to consult before hiring new employees. Similar databases already exist in other states as part of a growing nationwide effort to prohibit instances of 鈥減ass the trash,鈥� where educators accused of sexual misconduct leave a school district only to return to the classroom elsewhere. This happened numerous times in the El Monte district.

Perez called the settlement a 鈥渟ignificant step toward ending the pervasive sexual misconduct that has harmed so many students in the El Monte Unified School District. Today鈥檚 agreement stems from the work of former Rosemead High School students who bravely shared their stories of harassment, assault, and abuse.鈥�

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