KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
A Valencia High School teacher is suing the William S. Hart Union High School District, alleging years of racial discrimination, officials said Tuesday.
Kimberly Forbes filed a lawsuit on May 29 in the Los Angeles Superior Court against the Hart District, Valencia High School and several individuals based on allegations of retaliation, title IX violations, intentional infliction of emotional distress and discrimination based on race and gender.
Forbes alleges she was transferred to a lower-paying job in retaliation for speaking out about reported racial discrimination against black female students by two male students at Valencia High School.
In 2015, Valencia administrators allegedly failed to address reports of sexual harassment of female students by a male student, only identified as “A.S.” in public records, resulting in the male student allegedly vandalizing Forbes’ vehicle at her home in retaliation, according to court documents obtained by KHTS.
The lawsuit also alleges Valencia High School failed to implement a Title IX mandated reporting and investigatory process and had a practice of allowing, and in so condoning, gender harassment of female students.
In October 2016, a viral video was spread on the internet that depicted several Valencia students chanting the “n-word” while playing a game of hangman, for which the answer was “I hate all n*****s,” the lawsuit said.
In response, Forbes reportedly spoke out against the “racially hostile environment” at Valencia and, as faculty advisor to the Black Student Union, assisted in producing a documentary about the history of the “n-word,” according to court documents.
In her role overseeing video production classes, Forbes reportedly assisted students in other protected speech activities, including producing videos on topics of equal rights of gay students and participation in a national protest day concerning gun violence.
Forbes was allegedly reprimanded for doing so by Valencia administrators, who reportedly informed Forbes that it was her responsibility to “censor,” and thereby “infringe upon,” the pupils’ protected speech in a “restrictive” manner, the lawsuit said.
In February 2018, several black female students reportedly spoke to Forbes privately in her office about their alleged mistreatment by a white male student, only identified as “J.S.” in public records, in her 6th-period class.
The female students alleged the male grabbed their buttocks and breasts, forced them to look at pornographic images, called them “monkey” and “chimp,” and threatened one of them that he would “f**k her while wearing a Confederate flag to make my family proud,” according to the lawsuit.
In March 2018, Forbes alleges she complained to Valencia administrators that several of her black female students were being subjected to physical and verbal assaults by “J.S” and requested that the student be removed from her classroom, the lawsuit said.
In response, administrators allegedly formally reprimanded Forbes for meeting privately with the female students to listen to their complaints of abuse, while the offending student, “J.S.,” was assigned to another one of Forbes’ classes without being disciplined.
On May 30, 2018, Valencia administrators allegedly retaliated against Forbes by reassigning her from teaching video production in the Practical Arts department and transferring her to the English Department, the lawsuit alleges.
A spokesperson for the William S. Hart Union High School District declined to comment due to the pending litigation.
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Good for Mrs. Forbes! She was the best video production teacher and it’s a shame how the school and district have treated her. Everything she stated about the environment at Valencia is spot on!
Oh my goodness….rather use more colorful words but they would not be approved. Who raised these teenagers to say and do those things to any other human? Bless the teacher who is standing her ground and speaking up! Hope she wins!!!
Wow talk about a great story that no one has ever heard of. You’d think that if any of this ever really happened they say it did we all would have heard about it either by parents, students, or by other people that work at the school.
Sounds like someone wants to blame someone else for their problems. Blaming “whitey” always works
No one probably did, because it was swept under the rug. Maybe J.S. is special! How come we don’t hear J.S. complaining about the accusation against him. Again, is he that special! WOW! Let’s hear his side. Or does he have one?
People haven’t heard about it because it’s people like you that make victims feel as though their story will not be heard. That is exactly what is happening. Girls are being touched and called things that are horrid. For you to say this is just absolutely terrible and God forbid you ever have a child that comes to you with help when In this situation because that kid will need all the support and you will not be able to provide it with all the bleak thoughts in your mind.
Sincerely,
A Valencia student
Blaming “whitey” does not always work. Are you okay? Are you aware of the racial climate in America? Have you ever tried to listen to POC and hear their struggles? Maybe then you would understand that problems like this are swept under the rug by admins to protect students and the school. Just because you haven’t heard about it doesn’t always mean it did not happen. I can give you examples of times in which just because you did not hear a thing about a struggle does not mean it did not happen, ESPECIALLY when it comes to race and sex based harassment/discrimination. Find something else to be pressed about because being pressed about someone speaking up for others’ rights is not it.
Blaming “whitey” always works? Really? Maybe because it is never the other way around!! Blacks are always profiled by whites, hated by whites, and inferior to whites. We brought them all here as slaves & then hate the ones who are still here. Yes, blame whitey. Because ITS OUR FAULT they are afraid to be around white people every day. So are Mexicans. White people hate everyone. So sad we can’t just be nice. Ugh.
First off white people don’t hate everyone. Second black or white or Mexican, YOU ALL need to be polite and respectful. Third I’m not a fan of name calling and truly feel most people have a decent vocabulary that they can find the right words to express themselves. Resorting to name calling speaks volumes about YOU!! Let’s hear the facts of the situation’s.
Black, white, or Mexican? How do you go from naming two skin colors to a nationally? Mexican does not apply to every Latino. Get educated on racial appropriateness
hey! as a recent graduate, i have actually heard about all of these occurrences, as well as many more that have occurred my campus! admin did not take the liberty to fairly punish the students that were involved. in fact, i noticed that the article combined two events the occurred my sophomore year, with the hangman game and the viral video. those were TWO different instances but the article combined them into one. it’s worse than they wrote!
Glad she was fired. She constantly targeted white students and conservatives who dared go against the liberal indoctrination she spreads in the classroom. Can’t condone any racial slurs or instances of sexual harrasment, but more than likely she’s just using her black card to try win a lawsuit against an already diverse administrative staff.
she wasn’t fired. she was put in a lesser paying job in (alleged) retaliation for speaking up for black young ladies who were been sexually harassed.
Regardless of her liberal “propaganda” she was still doing the right thing for those students and got reprimanded and retaliated against for it.
Propaganda is not what you mean, kaput. Look it up.
First of all you probably don’t know what it’s like to be in her shoes constantly getting nagged at or constantly having kids confront her about what they are going through. So before you say “I’m glad she was fired” know your place. If you don’t have anything positive to say then don’t comment anything.
She was not fired ,she still teaches at Valencia.
People are afraid to speak! Some people like to get revenge. I am proud of that teacher. She already won the case because according to Ed. Code districts are not allowed to retaliate. In addition, Bender The Offender, if you know anything about Hart District, you will know that a black man holds a special position to combat racism that has existed for many years in this district. You will also find articles about discrimination within the districts from many years ago that the State of California put out because of the lack of minorities in the district.
It’s all very one sided, this article. Why don’t we first wait for ALL the facts….from BOTH sides. Thank you.
Sounds like a typical reply! This teacher has her reasons to sue. That young man needs to go before the school board. This is horrible!!!!
It’s one sided because only the facts are being stated. Notice how everything that has occurred says “alleged/ly.” Nothing can be confirmed and is all hearsay, that is why there are no other points of view. Did you actually read the whole article? It is stated repeatedly that most of these facts were found on public record. It doesn’t seem that anybody was actually interviewed.
Wow CeeBee, you sound like our morally bankrupt President who could find “good people on BOTH sides” when one side was filled with hateful white nationalist Neo-Nazis.
You are a brain dead idiot!!
Remember when the whole VHS baseball team assaulted (jumped) that person? Give me a break! This place is corrupt.
Valencia High, along with West Ranch High, has had many years of very similar trouble. Many of the students have been taught by their peers and parents to be racist and believe that their behavior is above reproach. I hope that in this case the investigation is not one sided as in many cases it can be
Valencia High administrators have always had that discriminating vibe for years!!!
I’m so glad that it finally reached Superior Court!
as a student of the school, i would like to point out that this behavior has only gotten worse what with the administration and such allowing these children to get away with racial slurs and sexual harassment only leads them to believe behaving in this manner is acceptable when it is absolutely not. it will never be okay to threaten to rape a girl in the name of a fascist organization. it will never be okay to animalize a person based on the color of their skin. it will never be okay to chant a word used to dehumanize a person. you say you want the full story from both sides but then you question the how viable the story of the victim is, pick apart every bit of their narrative until the student is no longer confident in the fact that adults are here to help and protect. then you blame us because we won’t tell you what happened to us. shame on those of you who think this is a “blame the white people” game. maybe if you raised your children right, i wouldn’t have to feel threatened on my own campus.
Valencia High School is full of unethical and inappropriate behavior by staff and administration. This should not surprise anyone and hopefully will spark more investigations into the administration.
Using the black card to sue (a diverse) VHS administration over unsubstantiated claims. Wish I had black privalege. Forbes always was a poor and biased teacher, can’t say I’m surprised she would pull a stunt like this.
Honey the racism just spilled out your mouth lmfaooo. You look silly bringing politics into an issue white folks need to fix. Your racism needs to stop. All you got out of this was to attack the teacher. Nothing about how any of this is wrong. Just defending the white supremacists in your community. Just sick!
I have a minority child at this school and have been shocked by what behavior is tolerated. Good job to all the women and minorities who aren’t putting up with this garbage anymore. Ms. Forbes has my full support.
.Nothing has changed at Valencia or the district I see. This isn’t the first suit. I believe every word. The cover up is real. I’m glad Forbes finally started speaking up. It’s been years in the making. It is easier for some to hate and remain evil, than to love or just mind their own business.
Questions:
If…”The female students alleged the male grabbed their buttocks and breasts, forced them to look at pornographic images, called them “monkey” and “chimp,” and threatened one of them that he would “f**k her while wearing a Confederate flag to make my family proud,” according to the lawsuit.” …How come the students’ families didn’t file charges with the police? There is no mention of this? Is it because the Valencia police are corrupt too and part of this conspiracy against these students and Ms Forbes? If it were my daughter, I would pursue every legal avenue possible and everyone would know the offending student’s name. That seems the only natural response of any parent if this really happened as claimed.
How can the reporting in this article of citing “facts” from the plaintiff’s lawsuit such as… “In her role overseeing video production classes, Forbes reportedly assisted students in other protected speech activities, including producing videos on topics of equal rights of gay students and participation in a national protest day concerning gun violence. Forbes was allegedly reprimanded for doing so by Valencia administrators, who reportedly informed Forbes that it was her responsibility to “censor,” and thereby “infringe upon,” the pupils’ protected speech in a “restrictive” manner, the lawsuit said.” …Be considered neutral reporting? All lawsuits filed by plaintiffs make sensational claims. The Plaintiff’s lawsuit on file for public consumption does not contain the defendants’ “facts” or counter claims. Further, many lawsuits are settled for pure expediency, even though completely baseless and full of false accusations, to mitigate costs and risk. It is often more expensive to defend and win a lawsuit, then to simply settle. Therefore how is this considered fair or balanced reporting and even be considered factual – the only factual part is reporting on the plaintiff’s claims, but these are not facts, only claims… I’ve reviewed many lawsuits in my line of work and found in many a majority of “facts” i.e. the plaintiff’s complaints to be blatantly false. That is why we have a legal system to sort through the muck.
According to the claims made in this story, Ms Forbes and her students are innocent victims perpetually victimized by a conspiracy of a white racists majority at Valencia High School and by connection, the Valencia population. As a 20-year resident of Valencia with school age children involved in multiple activities and who interrelate with people of all races, we have not witnessed nor heard about any of this racism nor discrimination.
Conversely what we have witnessed and heard of are so-called social justice warriors and liberals with a “victim” mindset and a hard left extremist agenda making outrageous accusations against anyone who is counter to their agenda. It has become the norm for the so-called “liberal left” who once claimed to be the open-minded free speech advocates to become the new Fascists (definition: characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition and strong regimentation of society and of the economy) arm of our political and cultural system, that shouts down and endeavors to silence and destroy any contrarian thought, speech or ideas – especially any conservative or traditional ideas. Their primary tool for doing so is character assassination by hurling slurs and accusations of racism, discrimination, and anything they think will silence or destroy their opponent. Rather than a victim, Ms. Forbes sounds like a self-proclaimed social justice warrior and was chastised for using her role as an educator to push her agenda in the classroom.
What are the real facts of activities at Valencia HS? I don’t claim to know – and why do others find it so difficult to admit the same? However, these claims are so outrageous and one-sided and fly in the face of everything I’ve seen and experienced in this city in 20-years, and what is morally right, that they seem if not in part outright false, to be highly exaggerated for impact. Do teenagers make outrageous statements and participate in bad behavior – yes of course. They always have and always will – regardless of if they are raised liberal or conservative. Their hormones are on overdrive and their brains are not fully matured, and if there is any form of harassment or inappropriate sexual behavior, it needs to be dealt with swiftly. But we must remember not to rush to judgment, no matter how outrageous the accusation. There are many documented cases of false accusations that have destroyed lives such as The Duke Lacrosse Rape Case (false), the “Mattress Girl” case, and others…
Honey please cut the bs no one is gonna make that up. We don’t fake rape and have people murdered like plenty of white women did to plenty of black boys. This happened there’s students on this post that goes there that says this happened. Your being biased because white boys are involved. If they were black boys I wonder if you’d wanna hear both sides. I’d never step foot in that racist ass city of Valencia. You can feel the racism just passing by the city!!
Just wondering if you would write a similar rant if the teacher espoused conservative political views.I suspect you would be fine with that. This is not about someone’s politics, this is about addressing the possible sexual assault of teenage minority students that has nothing to do with teen hormones. I agree in a court of law we must determine wether these allegations are true, but we are not in a court of law here, and if parents and students can corroborate the truth of these allegations they have a free speech right to do so.You keep claiming that the liberal left suppresses the conservative point of view, however you have already decided the claims are exaggerated based on your dubious knowledge of law suits which really is irrelevant to the truth or falsity of these claims.You site two cases, the Duke lacrosse case, and the girl with the mattress case as your proof that we should not rush to judgment .In those cases a court of law acquitted the lacrosse players and punished the false accuser with her mattress.Forbes is willing to run that legal gauntlet.So we will see what happens.If she is found to be truthful about such claims I want you to commit to a public apology and I shall do the same.Is that a deal you can accept?
Take your Fox News rant somewhere else.
Hate to harsh your buzz, but if they did report this to the police they could not report it in this article because accusations against juveniles is not a matter of public record and are sealed.
Also, “allegedly” means that it’s not an undisputed fact in legal terms at this juncture.
Using hot-button talking points in place of facts doesn’t add anything to your argument and comes off as race-baiting. Is that what you intended (rhetorical question)?
Do your research before you rant about things you’re not fully informed on. “Informed” not meaning educated in the Koch Brothers School of Disinformation Tactics.
Or just don’t rant.
I have two children that have graduated from VHS class of 2012 and 2017. They were involved in Video Production, Theatre, Choir, Track and Cross Country. One of them was in Video Priduction while the “alleged “ insiders with the male student occurred. Let me just say that it is ALL true, not only was the teacher and the female students impacted but ALL of the students in the video production program that were witnessing these occurrences as they unraveled. My student would come home and share almost on a daily basis about the discomfort of this particular male student and his actions , including the attempts to silence Forbes and just ignore the reality of the seriousness of the situation. This did occur and shame on those that dismiss this. Do you think Kimberly Forbes would jeopardize her entire career and reputation for nonsense? If it was your child affected would you take it more seriously? Even if it’s difficult to accept at the very least do your research before you rush to criticize a person that has the courage to speak up publicly.
My kid goes to Hart and many of the kids there were aware of this video and I believe actually saw it. When Hart plays West Ranch…I was told the WR students chant “Please don’t stab us,” Obviously a racial chant. I was shocked to hear this in this day and age. It is no secret that there is still discrimination. It doesn’t sound like this teacher was building a law suit…the kids felt safe with her and confided in her. The administrators should have praised her and utilized the trust these students have in her to address a serious problem. So now she will be heard as well as the students through a law suit that could have been avoided.
The school lacks diversity training for personnel and students. Racial sensitivity training is needed for all. Students do not understand the impact of their actions and feel sometimes they have a pass to make racial comments to minority friends in a joking manner. Same goes for a hostile environment created by sexual harassment. School as well as at home is where zero tolerance needs to be learned and adopted.
The school Board needs to take the lead NOW and if some students are acting improperly, their needs to be an investigative fact finding interview with a disposition for each and every allegation. I assure you if these allegations are found to have merit, the Equal Employment Commission will levy fines up to 300,000 for each offense as well as order sensitivity training for all.
We had diversity training when I worked there.
I’m glad she’s doing this. It’s about time Valencia administration be taken to court for how they act. I went to this school in 2015. I was constantly being harassed at school and online by one of the football players. Spreading provocative rumors slandering my reputation. Nobody did anything about it, he never even got suspended for calling me all these things in front of faculty members. I hope Valencia administration just gets a whole new staff
I was in class with the alleged A.S as mentioned in the article and have come to comment that nothing Forbes says is true about what he did. She intentionally went out of her way to try and accuse him of these acts, which never occurred or are complete exaggerations of the truth. The police investigated him as well as the staff and found him to be of no threat, taking in to account all of the students Forbes forced to come forward with these false claims. The reason none of what is alleged in this article amounted to any legal action is because they are all lies. Forbes has been dismissed by faculty because this is a reoccurring trend, she has one personal dispute with a student and then decides when to change her relationship from a friend to an educator. She does this every year, and a student is harassed by her time and time again. I hope that the Judge can see past her cleverly constructed bullshit and seek for the truth in this book of lies. I feel sorry for my friend, all of what has been falsely claimed about him is being brought up again so many years after he was already forced to prove his innocence. These are horribly destructive claims. Shame on Forbes.
Why don’t you give your name? How can we verify what you are claiming actually occurred? I put my name down because aI was not ashamed of what I wrote. You are a coward if you refuse to write your name when you claim something unfair occurred to your friend. For all we know your the student Forbes complained about.
As a Graduate of Valencia High School I am not surprised to hear about said discrimination. Ms. Forbes deserves better than to be mistreated by the school district. But thats not how Santa Clarita works. I hope those girls know how important they are and how much they mean to the young girls around them. Dont be afraid to speak up. And to speak out against what is going on around you and with you. Those boys know that they wont get into any trouble because of who they are. But what there doing has be going on for years so I hope that those girls get justice.When i was in high school Obama had just gotten elected and people were very disappointed and felt the need to be angry about a black man in office. In my history class teachers had nothing nice to say but sure did emphasize the history of slavery. Trump is president now, so its only logical that those angry people get the plat form…. again. America is not great and will never be until racism is handled. Ms. Forbes i hope your in this for the long run because things need to change. Trump I hope you realize one day how you really affected america.
Those who are may be opposed towards Forbes actions, I’m sorry but you don’t see what we see. I AM A STUDENT at Valencia high school, and I have witnessed and dealt with countless acts of racism, sexism, and harassment. A LARGE amount of you have NEVER truly been in this school and witnessed what happens in broad daylight. This school needs to change. We are tired of walking past those gates everyday with the thought of feeling unsafe or vulnerable because of what awaits inside, and that SURE as hell goes to the administration, a few of you I wish to never see in the workplace again. I was sexually harassed by my coach sophomore year, I took it the school, the whole admin, the police, and he STILL resides there to teach today, meaning I have to face MY monster everyday who can’t even look me in the eyes because he knows of what he did. It’s RIDICULOUS, the system is so screwed up. She is trying to HELP those who have struggled for so long just asking for guidance in a situation like this. Hear us out. Because if the school won’t listen, we’ll make sure EVERYONE in this town knows exactly what goes on. And how they “handle” it.
This has nothing to do with Forbes going after White folks. How do I know this? Kim Forbes was my assistant coach on our Speech and Debate team and I know her. When Dr.Priesz ,a White man and the first principal of Valencia High School was accused of being a racist allegedly for not responding quickly enough to a racial slur of some African -American students, Kim Forbes defended Dr.Priesz. Our principal was an honorable man who lived an honorable life and everyone knew that. I spoke in defense of Dr.Priesz at a school board meeting while the entire faculty sat in the audience wearing “I Love Dr. Priesz “ t-shirts. Despite a federal investigation by the justice department and the NAACP, nothing was uncovered that suggested an act racism, regarding this principal.In fact, Dr.Priesz advocated the expulsion of the offending students.Despite Gloria Alread being hired to litigate this law suit at the end of the day it was clear the allegations against our principal were groundless. Valencia always had a small proportion of African Americans during the 21 years I worked at Vslencia.It would not take much to create an oppressive environment for those students.Someone needed to stand with those students and my dear friend Kim Forbes was the one teacher who did.
People who post things like that glory in outraging. Their purpose is to bait, not to express any information of substance or deeply felt beliefs. It is the void. Keep fighting it and thank you for your passion.
When are you going to report that the case was dismissed and that she had to amend her complaint numerous times due to factual errors? What about all the administrator’s names you published before even the ink was dry? What about stating this wasn’t the first lawsuit she filed against the district?
Reporting used to be done on a level that meant something now its just about the clicks.
Let us get back to what real news used to be and report the whole damn story about Kimberly Forbes.
Look into the number of sexual assault cases reported to Valencia High School and the number investigated. All parents should know.