San Marcos Principal Files Suit Against Santa Barbara Unified School District
Behrens Charges Emotional and Physical Distress in Demotion
Outgoing San Marcos High School Principal Ed Behrens “suffered a demotion which entails lost wages … and reputation harm resulting in severe emotional and physical distress,” according to a lawsuit filed on May 21 against Santa Barbara Unified School District, whose Board of Education voted 4-1 in March to reassign Behrens to a junior high teaching position come fall. Behrens is suing for reinstatement and punitive damages in the aftermath of a January video circulated online involving first-year boys threatening the lives of female fellow students, after which Behrens supporters said he was unfairly blamed for response failures at the district level.
