The Second Appellate District affirmed an order denying a preliminary injunction and dismissed an appeal from an order denying leave to intervene. The court held, as a matter of first impression, that, after a party’s requesting disclosure of school records under the California Public Records Act was denied, the party was entitled to file a petition for a writ of mandate to compel disclosure.
After receiving a student complaint, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District conducted an investigation into alleged sexual harassment of the student by Ari Marken, a mathematics teacher at Santa Monica High School. The student’s parents spoke with the investigator and provided information regarding the alleged misconduct. They explained, however, that they had decided not to allow their daughter, the complainant, to be interviewed about the matter. The investigator did interview the house principal, the dean of students, several staff members and Marken. Marken admitted that he had engaged in certain of the conduct alleged but denied that he had engaged in other conduct.
