66 sexual assaults reported in CCSD this school year, thousands of violent incidents

In August 2018, the Clark County School District (CCSD) Board of Trustees voted for a new juvenile justice partnership, which was supposed to address student behavioral problems in a more equitable manner by not turning in minority students to the criminal justice system when they commit offenses on campus. CCSD Board President Irene Cepeda led the efforts as seen in the video the school district put out in February 2019. 

In the video, President Cepeda claims, “The purpose of the juvenile justice partnership is to create a safer school environment and classrooms that are more productive.”

In July 2020, the school district held a meeting and reviewed the CCSD School Justice Partnerhip report. According to the meeting notes:

The Board of School Trustees received an update on the Clark County School Justice Partnership (SJP) and the efforts to positively impact students through a multi-agency partnership. The SJP is a collaboration between CCSD, CCSD Police Department, Clark County Department of Juvenile Justice and the Clark County District Attorney’s Office.

The report showed referrals Districtwide to the Department of Juvenile Justice Services have decreased overall by 28% for the previous three years. For Black students, the decrease was only 22%. At present, we are taking a close look at why that happened so that we can work to address the underlying cause. We are here to educate the children of Clark County, not prepare them for the prison pipeline.

“Our officers understand that while they are tasked with keeping our schools and community safe, they are helping our children on the path to a better future. Our commitment to equity and inclusion stands firm,” Superintendent Dr. Jesus F. Jara said.”

According to a recent Channel 8 News report, there have been 5,350 incidents of violence reported on campuses this school year–66 of those incidents were sexual assaults.

As reported by Channel 8:

“Since the beginning of the 2021/2022 school year, CCSD has had 5,350 incidents of violence reported on school campuses — everything ranging from fights to sexual assaults.

The report was released to 8 News Now today following a public records request approximately two weeks ago. It gives the numbers for 11 different types of violence that have occurred on local school campuses and were reported to the CCSD Police Department from Aug. 2, 2021, through Feb. 9, 2022.

• Robbery (37)

• Attempted Robbery (4)

• Assault or Battery (1,358)

• Fight (1,416)

• Abuse Neglect (77)

• Sexual Assault (66)

• Kidnapping (1)

• Attempted Kidnapping (1)

• Illegal Shooting (26)

• Explosive Device (12)

• Harassment or Threat (2,352)”

The Globe served CCSD with an open records request for all school police reports detailing sexual assaults on campuses since January 2019. But to date, the district only provide three incidents, out of the 66 reported, for this school year dating back to August 2021.

We also do not have any information about the perpetrators since their names are confidential due to their age. Therefore, there is no transparency regarding repeat offenders and what, if any, criminal charges and convictions have resulted from these 66 sexual assaults.  

The CCSD Board of Trustees have been occupied with masks and vaccine mandates over the last year and have not once addressed any of the 66 sexual assaults in any of the school bi-monthly board meetings this year or last. CCSD did address general violence in a special board meeting last week on February 18th.

Here are a couple of excerpts from the reports releases to The Globe. (Warning: graphic content) 

This is directly from a police report dated Aug 2019. The alleged sexual assault happened at South East Career Technical Academy. 

She moved his hand away and they continued to kiss. When they were done kissing, they walked down the hallway and pulled her into the faculty restroom, locked the door, kissed her, put his hand down her pants and penetrated her again with his

fingers. He pulled down her pants and sat her down on a table. He tried to give her oral sex and she moved his head away and told him ‘no.’ She got up and pulled up her pants. She tried to leave but he grabbed her again and started kissing her. He let her go and they left and went back to class.

I asked if he penetrated her with her consent and she stated ‘no.’ She stated that she met up with him in hallway to kiss and nothing else. She stated that he was not her boyfriend but just a friend. I asked if she just wanted to have a physical relationship with him and “hook up” and she shook her head no. I asked if she had a boyfriend and she said “no.” 

In another report, a girl describes being raped in the boy’s bathroom and threatened:

“she then realized (redacted) was overpowering her and no longer joking with the juvenile; she attempted to break his grip but was then pushed into the single toilet stall and had her mouth covered by (redacted) and stated she continued to fight and struggle with (redacted) but continued to be overpowered; she then stated (redacted) covered her mouth with his right hand and threatened to kill her if she continued to struggle.

According to then took his left hand to drop her jeans and underwear and penetrated her…”

When the Globe followed up and asked about the consequences/convictions of these assaults and if any sexual assaults were committed by repeat offenders, CCSD responded:

“Confidential and privileged information is not required to be produced under the public records law.NRS 239.010(1) (documents are not required to be produced if they fall within the enumerated exceptions or are “otherwise declared by law to be confidential”); NRS 239.010(3) (confidential and privileged information may be redacted).CCSD reserves the right to assert any and all additional arguments and defenses, including, but not limited to, the following:

· Information that reveals the identity of a victim of a sexual offense, an offense involving a pupil or child, or sex trafficking is confidential.NRS 200.3771; NRS 200.3773; Clark County School District v. Las Vegas Review-Journal, 134 Nev. 700 (2018).\

· Juvenile justice information is confidential.NRS 62H.025.

· There are nontrivial personal privacy interests at stake that need to be protected, and in the balancing of the interests these privacy interests prevail over the public’s right to information.These nontrivial personal privacy interests may warrant the redaction or withholding of certain documents.Clark County School District v. Las Vegas Review-Journal, 134 Nev. 700 (2018); Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department v. Las Vegas Review-Journal, 478 P.3d 383 (2020); Cameranesi v. U.S. Dep’t of Defense, 856 F.3d 626 (9th Cir. 2017).

· Personally identifiable student information is confidential under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).20 U.S.C. 1232g; 34 C.F.R. Part 99; NRS 392.029; NRS 385A.830.

· Personal information is not a public record.NRS 239.010; NRS 239.0105; NRS 388G.525 (personal information is confidential); NRS 239B.030(2); NRS 239B.040(1); NRS 603.070; NRS 603A.040; NRS 603A.210; Donrey of Nevada, Inc. v. Bradshaw, 106 Nev. 630 (1990); Reno Newspapers, Inc. v. Gibbons, 127 Nev. 873 (2011).

· Documents may be evidence in an on-going investigation.NRS 239.010; NRS 179A.070(2)(a); Donrey of Nevada, Inc. v. Bradshaw, 106 Nev. 630 (1990) (a balancing of the interests weighs in favor of confidentiality and non-disclosure).

· Documents or portions thereof may be confidential under the common law balancing test.Donrey of Nevada v. Bradshaw, 106 Nev. 630 (1990); Reno Newspapers, Inc. v. Gibbons, 127 Nev. 873 (2011).

Thank you,

Document Control Specialist

Community Services Department

Clark County School District”

The Globe has only received reports for 15 assaults since 2019.  The Globe will continue to request additional information from the school district and will provide updates.