Two Santa Barbara families have petitioned Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schools Susan Salcido, Santa Barbara Charter School and the Santa Barbara Unified School District to submit a plan for judicial review to keep minors safe from being secretly recorded.

The petition was filed by Cappello & Noël, a Santa Barbara-based law firm, on behalf of two families who had children allegedly secretly recorded by Steven Schapansky, a former Santa Barbara Charter School teacher who has been charged with 70 misdemeanors of unlawful electronic peeping and two felonies of child molestation. 

The claim states that school officials “failed to follow the law which required them to take necessary measures to protect minors in their care.” 

The families are asking the court to direct the school and district to submit plans to regularly inspect and monitor public schools facilities and appoint a “compliance monitor” to ensure the plans are implemented.

Schapansky’s whereabouts are currently unknown after he failed to make his first court appearance on Sept. 13. Schapansky was last seen riding a motorcycle in Fresno after making bail, and law enforcement believes he may have been heading to Yosemite National Park. 

His family is concerned that he is at risk of suicide, according to his attorney, Robert Sanger. 

The new legal complaint alleges that Schapansky regularly hosted on-campus activities for his students, including a yearly sleepover in his classroom. The complaint alleges that Schapansky would have female students change in and out of their pajamas in the closet in his classroom. 

Both minor female students, identified as Jane Doe and Rachel Roe, were allegedly enrolled in Schapanky’s class and attended one of those sleepovers. 

The complaint argues that the school should have known they were at risk when changing in the closet and other areas without an adult presence. 

Barry Cappello, an attorney representing the families, said they want to make sure something like this can’t happen again. 

“In this day and age, cameras in bathrooms and hidden cameras, that’s a fairly common invasion that takes place all over,” Cappello said. “Somebody has to be checking for these things.”

The next step in this case is for the school and district to respond with a plan for how to protect students from this happening again. If they fight the petition, then there will be a court battle over getting a court order mandating the plan, according to Cappello. 

Santa Barbara Charter School has its own board of directors, administration and teaching staff. It operates under an agreement with SBUSD in which it is responsible for the operation of the school, and agrees to defend and indemnify SBUSD for anything that may occur.

“Last year, our district started annual training of all staff on how to detect and report grooming and sexual abuse behaviors,” said Ed Zuchelli, chief of communications for the district. “It is incumbent on our whole district community to look out for our students and create safe learning environments.”

Laura Donner, director of education at Santa Barbara Charter School, said they had not seen or heard of the claim and could not comment on pending litigation.

Donner previously told Noozhawk that Schapansky started teaching at the school in 2017 and that his contract ended June 7.

“Our hearts are with our entire Santa Barbara and Goleta community as we navigate this unimaginable situation,” she said in a statement two weeks ago.

Salcido clairfied to Noozhawk that her County Education Office oversight does not include charter school personnel, facilities or day-to-day operations, as charter schools act independently.

“I learned this morning that I have been named in a claim related to the case involving a former Santa Barbara Charter School teacher,” Salcido said. “As Santa Barbara County superintendent of schools, I am concerned for the safety and well-being of all children and families and am deeply saddened by the news of this case.”

Last month, a claim for personal injuries and damages was filed against the charter school and school district on behalf of a 13-year-old female victim by Taylor & Ring, a Los Angeles-based law firm. 

Since then, several other families have joined the claim, according to attorney Dave Ring. 

“All of our families are eager and hopeful that law enforcement catches him and brings him back to justice, and they want him to serve time for what he did,” Ring said.

The claim alleged that the district and the charter school were liable for the misconduct committed by Schapansky, claiming they “negligently supervised” students, failed to protect students, and failed to enforce guidelines, training and procedures. 

The charter school and district still have time to respond to the claim. If the claim is denied, then a lawsuit can be filed.