Lawsuit says California district has chosen an improper site for at-risk program

From The San Francisco Chronicle: Civil rights groups contend in a lawsuit that a Richmond, Calif., school for troubled students is housed illegally in two decrepit trailers without adequate light, sanitation, desks, working bathrooms or trained teachers. The West Contra Costa District's Community Day School Program is for students who have been expelled from other schools, are on probation for criminal convictions or have been taken from their parents' custody because of abuse or neglect. According to the lawsuit, the students are housed in two trailers on the grounds of a continuation high school, Samuel Gompers, and alongside a contaminated construction site. The trailers - placed at Gompers despite a state law banning their placement on another high school campus - have leaky roofs, rotted floors and faulty wiring, and have been invaded by rats and feral cats, the suit said. The bathrooms haven't worked for two years, and students are forced to use the restrooms at Gompers.