BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ
Daily Post Staff Writer
Parents with children at Sequoia High School in Redwood City have filed a claim after their child was allegedly sexually harassed by other students after a districtwide email of him in a swimsuit was sent. The embarrassment caused his family to move to another state.
The parents’ attorney, Shira Mowlem, filed a claim, which is a precursor to a lawsuit, on March 21 against the district for failing to conduct an investigation after their child was discriminated against during the 2022-2023 school year. The parents are asking for $25,000 in damages.
The Sequoia Union High School District was aware of the bullying but underminded it, calling it only a “peer conflict,” according to the family’s claim the Post obtained using the California Public Records Act.
The records the Post obtained were heavily redacted by the district and did not disclose various details. The redacted claim didn’t say what the student was called, the identity of the person who sent the district-wide email or how that person was able to obtain the addresses of those who received the emails.
Starting in November 2022, the student was called names on many occasions, such as at the school dance, the claim states.
Hit from all sides
Throughout November 2022 and January 2023, the student continued to be bullied on campus. He was harassed by other students and, at the same time, received negative feedback from teachers, saying he was failing, according to the claim.
“He also was made to feel demoralized during class in front of his peers,” the claim stated.
The district knew of the incidents but did not follow up, Mowlem said in the claim.
The student ended the year with an F and a D, claiming that the teacher created a hostile environment, according to Mowlem.
Districtwide email
On April 1, 2024, an email was sent to the entire district, including students from Carlmont, Menlo-Atherton, Middle College, Redwood and Woodside, calling the student a name not disclosed by the district with a distorted photo of him in a bathing suit, the claim said. District employees who also got the email were Kimberly Zilles, district coordinator; Sean Priest, principal of Sequoia High School; Administrative Vice Principals Sophia Olliver and Gary Gooch; Andrea Harris, who works in the Special Education Department; Rebekah Howard, mental health specialist; Dy Nguyen, special education teacher and Adili Skillin, teacher at Sequoia High School, the claim said.
Others were sent the email, but do not appear as active employees are Roderick De Leon, speech and language therapist and Kendra Venske, a behavior specialist, according to the 2022-2023 school year teacher chart.
All the teachers except De Leon and Venske still appear on the school’s website as active employees.
Sequoia Union High School District did not respond to the Post because its representative was out of the office.
Request for investigation ignored
After the email was sent, the student was taunted by students from other schools, the claim said. The parents filed a Title IX complaint on April 1, 2024.
The parents found out that no investigation was done by the district after filing the complaint. The district told the parents that the incidents happened outside of school hours, the claim said.
He now attends a school in a different state because of the sexual harassment, cyber sexual bullying and bullying on and off campus, the claim said.