A Sonoma County parent is asking a judge to unwind key recent special education moves by Santa Rosa City Schools, arguing the district pushed them through behind closed doors. The petition says those actions shut parents out of decision-making for students with disabilities and seeks court orders, not cash, in the form of declaratory and injunctive relief.
The lawsuit, Velasquez v. Santa Rosa City Schools, No. 26CV03168, was filed last Wednesday in Sonoma County Superior Court and assigned to Judge Patrick Broderick, according to Adina’s Substack. The filing names petitioner Jennifer Velasquez, a parent and district-selected member of the SELPA planning committee, who says she brought the case on behalf of the wider community of parents of students with disabilities.
The court petition lays out a list of alleged Brown Act violations. It says Administrative Regulation AR 1220 was revised on April 2 to remove the SELPA Community Advisory Committee from Brown Act coverage; that the board adopted Section B of the SELPA local plan on April 8 without completing the required Section A or posting the required 15-day hearing notice; and that recordings and official minutes were mishandled. The petition also accuses district staff of suppressing the March 12 CAC meeting recording, filing false minutes for Feb. 26 and March 12, and sending a Spanish-language notice with the wrong city and address that pointed families to Modesto instead of Santa Rosa, allegations detailed in the court petition. As the petition puts it, “They have been ignored, excluded, and managed rather than heard.”
Local educators and advocates were already uneasy before the suit landed. The Santa Rosa Teachers Association flagged the SELPA items in the April 8 board packet and noted that the CAC had issued a formal advisory recommending the board not adopt the plan, and its agenda analysis lays out the Section B materials and CAC statement. Santa Rosa Teachers Association coverage shows the board agenda listing “Section B Final: Governance and Administration” alongside the CAC advisory.
What the petition asks the court to do
The filing asks the court to nullify both the April 2 revision to AR 1220 and the April 8 adoption of Section B, and to issue a writ of mandate requiring Brown Act compliance for SELPA CAC and planning committee meetings. It also seeks specific remedies that would reshape how those meetings run: restored remote access, bilingual 72-hour notices, public posting of recordings within five business days, corrected minutes, and reconstitution of the CAC through a lawful 30-day public process. The petition asks only for declaratory and injunctive relief and requests attorneys’ fees under California Government Code §54960.5, which allows courts to award costs and reasonable attorney fees in successful Brown Act actions. Government Code §54960.5.
Why this matters locally
The dispute centers on the legal status and role of the SELPA Community Advisory Committee, which California law requires each SELPA to establish as an advisory body under Education Code Article 7. The CAC’s duties, including advising on the local plan and recommending annual priorities, are spelled out in state guidance and SELPA materials, making the committee’s treatment a key flashpoint in how special education governance and parent input work in the district. State SELPA guidance and county SELPA pages describe the CAC framework under Education Code §§56190–56194.
What comes next
Velasquez filed the suit within the statutory window after submitting a March 25 cure-and-correct demand that the petition says the district failed to address by the April 24 deadline. According to Adina’s Substack, the case is active, with a case management conference scheduled for October 20 before Judge Broderick.
For families who have been fighting for a real seat at the table, the legal battle is a test of whether Santa Rosa City Schools followed open-meeting rules when it moved to reshape special education governance. The outcome could change how the district posts notices, runs meetings, and preserves records for parents of students with disabilities across Sonoma County.
