A former Berkeley Technology Academy student and his mother are suing the Berkeley Unified School District and the Berkeley Police Department after a school resource officer allegedly assaulted and falsely arrested the student at Berkeley High School last year.
Filed last Wednesday at the Alameda County Superior Court, the lawsuit claims BUSD and BPD violated the student’s civil rights when the officer detained the student without probable cause, inflicting physical and mental injuries.
The suit alleges the former student — who is Black and was on an Independent Educational Plan at the time of the incident — was denied substantive due process and equal protection under the law on the basis of his race and disability.
BUSD’s Public Information Office said it could not comment on the specifics of any ongoing litigation, but said the emotional and physical safety of every student is “a top priority” for the district.
In 2025, the student attended BTA — the district’s continuation school — which occasionally sends some of its students to Berkeley High for classes or access to services such as counseling.
The student was leaving one of his regularly scheduled therapy sessions at Berkeley High when he was approached by the school resource officer.
The officer allegedly attacked him without provocation, slamming him into the ground and continuing the assault after moving the student to an off-campus location away from security cameras.
The student was arrested, though the lawsuit argues that the resource officer lacked probable cause.
It also alleges the district and police department later failed to report the incident as required under California child abuse laws.
School resource officers within BUSD are sworn officers with BPD, and they have the authority to detain and arrest students on school property. Officer Byron White said BPD could not comment on cases pending litigation.
The day after the initial incident, teachers and students urged the district to take immediate action at the school board’s regular Wednesday meeting.
In a prepared statement, Amanda Cardno, a special education teacher at BTA who helped coordinate the therapy session at Berkeley High, said she, BTA principal Vincent Toan and the student’s counselor had given him permission to be there. A colleague read the statement aloud during public comment.
“This was a student in emotional crisis looking for help. They were met with aggression … their disability was ignored and they — a child — were treated like a threat,” Cardno’s statement said.
Cardno’s statement also called for BTA students to be “treated with respect and dignity,” claiming that they are viewed as “trespassers” while at Berkeley High.
Nina Camerino, a former student at Berkeley High who transferred to BTA her junior year, said she feels some staff at Berkeley High “look down upon” those from the continuation school. She also claimed that those caught on campus face “a huge punishment.”
During the 2024-25 school year, the small continuation school had only 54 students, and more than half of them were Black, according to data submitted to the California Department of Education.
“We have to have systems in place to ensure students safely attend counseling sessions and feel like valued members of the community, not like trespassers,” Cardno’s statement read.
According to the lawsuit, the former student and his mother are seeking a minimum of $35,000 in damages, in addition to attorney fees, and they are demanding a jury trial.