California Attorney General Rob Bonta last week announced an agreement requiring Natomas Unified School District to revise policies after finding the district disproportionately disciplined Black students and students with disabilities.
Sacramento Bee file
Natomas Unified School District continues to face scrutiny over how it treats Black students and students with disabilities, as local and state investigators have raised concerns about the district’s discipline practices and student protections.
On Friday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced an agreement requiring the district to revise its discipline and student privacy policies after finding the district disproportionately disciplined Black students and students with disabilities.
“Ensuring all of California’s children have a fair and equal opportunity at success in school is a top priority — and we’re committed to taking action,” Bonta said.
“My office conducted a thorough investigation of the Natomas Unified School District’s policies and practices related to student privacy and discipline and worked cooperatively with the District to reach today’s agreement.”
The announcement comes months after a Sacramento County grand jury raised similar concerns about the district’s special education program, saying Black students with disabilities faced more severe discipline.
In a September complaint, Bonta alleged that from 2018-19 through the first half of 2024-25, Black students received exclusionary punishments at about 4 times the rate of White students at the district. Students with disabilities made up about 14% of the district’s enrollment, the complaint also said, but accounted for nearly a quarter of discipline referrals.
As part of the agreement, the district must revise its discipline policies, train staff on equitable discipline and review discipline outcomes annually by demographic group, reporting the results to the attorney general and school board.
Natomas Unified pushed back on Bonta’s findings Tuesday, saying some of the reforms in the agreement were already underway and pointing to the district’s diversity and student support programs.
“The challenges facing Natomas Unified are not unique to our District. Like many Districts, student needs are becoming more complex and the resources required to provide high-quality services continue to grow,” Deidra Powell, a spokesperson for the district, wrote in a statement.
“The Department of Justice’s alleged findings do not reflect the realities faced at Natomas Unified… The facts have never justified the DOJ’s level of engagement.”
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Chaewon Chung is an education reporter for The Sacramento Bee. She has previously covered climate and environmental issues, focusing on energy and water. Before joining The Bee, she worked as a climate and environment reporter at the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina.