School district in talks to settle suit over schoolyard assault

The sign outside Loyola Elementary School. Post photo by Dave Price.

BY ALLISON LEVITSKY
Daily Post Staff Writer

Lawyers for the Los Altos School District are trying to settle a $5 million lawsuit filed by the parents of a 10-year-old girl who was trapped behind a schoolyard shed, partially undressed and touched inappropriately by two classmates.

The trial was initially set for Oct. 15, but has been repeatedly delayed.

Superintendent Jeff Baier said yesterday (Oct. 31) that lawyers from the two sides were still “attempting to work through a settlement.”

The girl’s parents demanded a $5 million settlement from the district on April 13.

Lawyers for the district offered the girl $40,000 on April 27. The girl’s parents came back with a demand for $1 million on Aug. 20.

The suit alleges that in January 2016, when the girl was in second grade at Loyola Elementary School, two 7-year-old boys trapped her behind a schoolyard shed on two occasions, pulled her pants down and her shirt up and touched her private parts.

Previous stories about this lawsuit

Oct. 17, 2018: Lawyers argue about what jurors should be told about Los Altos schoolyard attacks

Oct. 12, 2018: Trial scheduled to begin in schoolyard sex assault suit

June 3, 2018: Was it a sex assault or an innocent game among second-graders? Incident results in two lawsuits