Parents of Slain Teen Claim Removal of Campus Police Led to Son’s Death

The parents of an Aptos High School student who was fatally stabbed on campus last year are suing the Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) over its decision to remove police officers from its schools.

PVUSD was one of many districts that cut ties with its school resource officers after the 2020 murder of George Floyd, citing concerns over systemic racism. A year later, a 17-year-old student was stabbed to death at Aptos High.

The family’s attorney says the district eliminated campus police despite a rise in on-campus violence. The lawsuit also cites a lack of security cameras on campus and a known history of violence on the part of one of the suspects. That history allegedly went unreported by school officials, according to the suit.

After the student’s death, PVUSD trustees voted 6-1 to bring school resource officers back to some of the district’s high schools. Since then, a number of other districts have followed suit by reintroducing school police in some form.

Read more at The Pajaronian.