Morgan Hill Unified School District will pay $8.25 million to the families of three victims of a former teacher who is now serving a 40-year prison sentence for sexually abusing children, according to the terms of a settlement agreement confirmed by the families’ attorney.
“Both parties have an obligation under the gag order not to speak to the media,” said MHUSD Communications Coordinator Kimberly Beare in an emailed response to The Times. “Until a settlement is reached, we will be abiding by that order.”
The district has called for a special closed session meeting at 5 p.m March 14 to discuss the case. Under “Conference with legal counsel – existing litigation,” the meeting agenda lists three cases “Jane Doe1,” “Jane Doe2,” and “Jane Doe3,” all v. Morgan Hill Unified School District with corresponding case numbers.
The young female victims and their families sued the district in 2015 for allowing the girls’ fifth grade teacher John Loyd, 55, to molest the children while they attended his class at Paradise Valley Elementary School on LaCrosse Drive. The complaint accused the district of turning a blind eye while Loyd violated state education laws and district policies that left him alone with the children in his classroom.
In August 2015, Loyd pleaded guilty to four counts of lewd and lascivious acts with four of his fifth-grade female students, all of which occurred at the school. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
The settlement of three of the victims’ lawsuit, confirmed March 11 by attorney Robert Allard’s spokesman, will be presented to a judge in Santa Clara County Superior Court Monday morning. The spokesman, Ed Vasquez, said the district agreed to pay the families $8.25 million, and MHUSD is “recommended” to implement “predator identification training” as part of its mandatory training procedures.
MHUSD staff did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
More details of the settlement agreement will be revealed after Monday’s hearing.
Times staff writer Scott Forstner contributed to this report.
