LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Clark County School District police have responded dozens of times to acts of violence at a south valley high school, records obtained by 8 News Now showed. This has led to students being arrested and even a teenager filing a lawsuit claiming he was violently beaten.
According to the records, CCSDPD responded to 78 violent incidents at Desert Oasis High School from the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year in August to mid-February.
Police issued 22 criminal citations and made four arrests. These students were accused of fighting and making threats.
“We surrender to the school district our children and trust that they’ll protect them, and when I hear numbers like that it is shocking,” Matthew Holland, an attorney at the Cottle Firm, said.
Holland is representing Fabian Fernandez in a lawsuit filed in Clark County District Court on Wednesday.
The lawsuit alleges that in October of 2021, Fernandez was “assaulted, battered, and physically injured by two students.”
Fernandez reportedly suffered serious injuries, including a fractured jaw that required surgery.
“Fabian’s medical expenses are into the six figures of past medical costs incurred. The statutory cap that protects CCSD is $150,000,” Holland said.
According to court documents, administrators at Desert Oasis knew of the violent behaviors of the students.
Both CCSD and the Nevada Department of Education are named in the lawsuit. When asked about the lawsuit and the number of violent incidents at Desert Oasis, the district said it doesn’t comment on litigation.
Holland said the school district refused to settle Fernandez’s claim.
“As a result of this, his life has been changed and his experience at the Clark County School District has forever been changed,” Holland said.
On Thursday, 8 News Now reported on a federal lawsuit filed by a 14-year-old boy claiming his special education teacher at Desert Oasis High School threatened to harm him in Nov. Of 2022.
“Pick him up and just keep slamming him into the floor to break his neck.” Attorneys at Lagomarsino Law provided the audio recordings and identified the teacher as Courtney Billups.
Fernandez is currently enrolled at another school that is helping him deal with the post-traumatic anxiety he developed at Desert Oasis, according to the Cottle Firm.