A lawsuit pending in Tulare County Superior Court claims a 10-year-old autistic child was subjected to ongoing physical abuse at Maple Elementary School in Tulare. The student, referred to as Gianna in court documents, was enrolled in the Academic Collaborative for Exceptional Learners (AcCEL) on the Maple campus.
The suit, which seeks compensatory damages, was filed January 14. Also named as a plaintiff is Gianna’s mother, Veronica Cruz.
Defendants include the Tulare City School District, and two of its employees: Maple Elementary School principal Michelle Hermosillo and teacher Chloe Rodriguez Hernandez. The Tulare County Office of Education, which runs AcCEL programs at 75 locations including the Maple Learning Complex on the Maple Elementary School campus, is also named in the suit, as is AcCEL program manager Kim Korenwinder.
A request for information about the investigation and resulting lawsuit was not answered by Tulare City School District officials.
Injuries Appeared Starting in Fall 2024
According to the suit, Gianna’s parents and her grandmother, Jeanette Zamora, noticed signs of physical injury to the child after she returned from school. Gianna, 10, suffers from autism and does not communicate by speech. She instead uses gestures, vocalizations and pictures to communicate, as well as a speech generator.
Her condition, the suit said, leaves her unfortunately at risk for abuse.
“Due to her disabilities and inability to verbally communicate complex events,” the suit states, “Gianna is particularly vulnerable to abuse and unable to report mistreatment to her parents or authorities independently.”
Starting in September 2024, the family noticed “linear” bruises on the child’s back, as well as small circular bruising on her upper arm. When Zamora asked the girl’s teacher, Hernandez, about the bruising, she said she was unaware of the injuries; Hernandez also said her student had not suffered a fall or other accident, the suit claims.
Around the same time, Gianna began having behavioral problems at home and became more aggressive, which the suit describes as out of character for the 10-year-old.
Reports of Abuse Lead to Police Investigation
Not long after the discovery of the girl’s injuries by her family, the lawsuit says, the parent of another of Hernandez’s students “approached Gianna’s grandmother with alarming information.” The individual allegedly told Zamora that nonspeaking students under Hernandez’s supervision had been singled out for abuse.
Further, the suit alleges this pattern of abuse was witnessed and reported by teachers aides assigned to the classroom. The suit says at least one of those teachers aides reported the alleged abuse to school administrators in late September or October of 2024.
The allegations of abuse were also apparently reported to police at about this time, according to the suit. The lawsuit claims police informed Gianna’s parents that the girl had been physically restrained and isolated by Hernandez and instructional aide Maria Apodaca. Apodaca is not named as a defendant.
According to the suit, a classroom desk was used to trap Gianna in a corner of the room. This, the suit says, is a case of the use of an illegal restraint to isolate and trap a student and isolate her. The action was neither educational or intended for the student’s safety, the suit continues, “and directly resulted in the physical bruising and emotional trauma Gianna endured.”
Teacher, Aide Named in Police Investigation
On November 13, 2024, Gianna’s parents received a phone call from an officer from the Tulare Police Department who was investigating incidents of abuse at Maple Elementary. The couple was told their child was a possible victim in an active abuse investigation involving Hernandez and Apodaca. Both are employees of the Tulare City School District.
Gianna’s parents immediately went to the Maple Learning Complex. There, they spoke to AcCEL administrator Sarah Hamilton, who allegedly told them the investigation was still in the “beginning stages.” Hernandez, however, had already been placed on administrative leave five days earlier on November 8.
Gianna’s family maintains that no one from the Tulare City School District contacted them regarding the allegations of abuse against their daughter, only learning of them when they were contacted by police.
Gianna’s father, Adolph Cruz, contacted Tulare County Office of Education superintendent Tim Hire to request information about the investigation on November 22, but received no response. Hamilton is an employee of the Office of Education, however, neither she nor Hire are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
In response to a request, the Office of Education confirmed that Hernandez and Apodaca are not employed by that agency.
Victim of Alleged Abuse Transferred to Another Tulare School
Gianna was transferred from Maple Elementary to Garden Elementary School, also in the Tulare City School District, on December 10.
The lawsuit reports that Gianna’s behavior has dramatically improved since the transfer. Her new instructors say the 10-year-old’s aggression and outbursts have “subsided” and “decreased significantly” under their care, it says.
The lawsuit claims this positive improvement in Gianna is evidence of a “causal link” between the treatment she was allegedly subjected to at the Maple Learning Complex and the negative changes in her behavior that supposedly resulted.
The suit alleges that AcCEL administrator Korenwinder and Maple principal Hermosillo both failed to provide adequate supervision of Hernandez and Apodaca. In so doing, the suit says, the pair failed to effectively protect Gianna.
The Tulare City School District and the Tulare County Office of Education are both accused of negligent hiring, retention and supervision of employees. The two agencies are also accused of failing to inform Gianna’s parents of the alleged abuse and allowing it to continue. The suit also says the agencies failed to contact law enforcement immediately when the alleged abuse was reported.
Further, the suit claims the severity of the situation was down-played by administrators in their communication with Gianna’s parents. Ultimately, the suit portrays the alleged abuse and the official response as “outrageous and extreme.” The suit describes an alleged cover-up of the events surrounding the alleged abuse, and alleges civil rights violations defined in several state and federal codes.