Yes. If you or your child was sexually abused at school in California, state law allows a civil lawsuit against the person who caused the abuse. It also allows a lawsuit against the public school district or private school whose failures allowed the abuse to happen or continue. A criminal conviction is not required for either claim.
People who look this question up are usually carrying something specific. A parent may have just learned what happened to a child. An adult may be thinking, for the first time, about abuse that happened in a classroom or locker room many years ago. Often the real question underneath is whether it is too late, or whether a school can be named at all. This article explains how California civil law answers those questions. It does not ask you to decide anything.
Yes: California Law Allows Civil Claims Against Schools for Sexual Abuse
A civil claim is a lawsuit for money damages, brought by the survivor, that is separate from any criminal case. In California, these claims can be brought against public school districts, private and religious schools, and individual employees.
Claims against schools usually rest on two theories. The first is negligence: the school failed to use reasonable care in hiring, supervising or keeping an employee, or in supervising students. The second is direct institutional liability: the school's own conduct, such as ignoring warnings or concealing abuse, was a legal cause of the harm.
In 2019 the Legislature passed AB 218 (Chapter 861, Statutes of 2019). It lengthened the filing deadlines, opened a temporary revival window, and removed a procedural barrier that had stopped many claims against public schools. Each change is explained below. For a broader overview of how these cases proceed, see our guide to a California sexual abuse lawsuit.
Who Can Be Named in a School Sexual Abuse Lawsuit
A school sexual abuse case often names more than one defendant (a person or organization being sued). The possible defendants generally fall into three groups.
The individual who committed the abuse. This may be a teacher, coach, counselor, aide, bus driver, volunteer or other adult connected to the school. In certain circumstances, a claim may involve abuse by another student, where the school's supervision of students is the issue. Our article on teacher sexual abuse covers claims involving teachers in more detail.
The school or district as an institution. The school or district is typically named for its own failures: negligent hiring (failing to screen someone or to act on a known history), negligent supervision (failing to oversee staff or students adequately), and negligent retention (keeping someone in a role after warning signs appeared). Supervisors or administrators who received reports and did nothing may also be named.
Public versus private schools. The legal theories are largely the same, but the procedure differs. A public school district is a local public entity, a part of government, and special claim rules apply to government defendants. Private and religious schools are not government entities, so those rules do not apply to them. Some schools are run by the State itself rather than a local district. When it is unclear whether a defendant is a local entity or the State, establishing that status is the first step, because the rules differ.
A separate federal avenue. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. § 1681) prohibits sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funding. Sexual abuse can fall within it, particularly where the school had notice and failed to respond. A Title IX claim is a federal claim with its own requirements, and it can sometimes be brought alongside the California claims described here.
How California's Government Claims Act Applies to Public School Districts
Government Code section 905 states the general rule: claims "for money or damages against local public entities" must first be presented to the entity before a lawsuit can be filed. This is called a government claim (sometimes a government tort claim). For most injury claims, the related provisions of the Government Claims Act generally require that claim to be presented within six months of the incident. A missed claim deadline has historically ended many cases before they started.
For childhood sexual abuse, that barrier no longer applies to local public entities such as school districts. Section 905(m) lists, among the exceptions to the claim requirement:
"Claims made pursuant to Section 340.1 of the Code of Civil Procedure for the recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual assault."
AB 218 added that exception. Section 905(p) makes the change retroactive, applying it to actions "that would have been barred by the laws in effect before the date of enactment." There is no condition tied to when the abuse occurred. California law also prevents a local entity from substituting its own claim procedure for these claims. In plain terms: a survivor of childhood sexual abuse does not need to present a government claim to a California school district before suing it.
Two limits matter. First, section 905 governs local public entities. Claims against the State follow a different provision with no matching exception. For a State defendant, the exemption comes instead from the childhood sexual abuse statute itself, and it reaches only conduct on or after January 1, 2024. Second, the 905(m) exception covers claims under Code of Civil Procedure section 340.1 only. A claim that does not fall under section 340.1, such as one involving a student who was an adult at the time, does not get this exemption, and the general claim-presentation rules may still apply.