Employees charged in abuse incident

DA: Charter school officials failed to file report on student

LIVERMORE — The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office on Thursday filed misdemeanor charges of assault and battery, child cruelty and failure to report child abuse against three employees connected to two Livermore charter schools in a case of abuse against a foreign exchange student in January.

Prosecutors charged then-principal of Livermore Valley Charter Preparatory Eric Dillie, who is now the principal of Livermore Valley Charter School and then-vice principal Randy Taylor, who is said to have resigned this week, with a misdemeanor charge each of failing to report the alleged child abuse.

Brock Van Wey, 42, of Livermore, who worked for California Preparatory Academies, was charged with misdemeanor assault and child cruelty, said Livermore police Officer Cynthia White in court documents.

The allegations against them arrive the same week more than 400 students fled the two Livermore charters the first week of school and enrolled in district schools instead.

The charters are run by Tri-Valley Learning Corporation, which has been under the district attorney’s investigation since February after allegations that two Chinese students were transported against their will to a sister charter school in Stockton in a separate incident.

The corporation also has been under fire for allegations related to financial mismanagement; illegally charging foreign exchange students tuition; not paying teachers on time; and a slew of other complaints by parents, community members and the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District.

Chris Van Schaack, assistant superintendent of the school district, said he expects more students to transfer out of the charters and into local public schools given Thursday’s charges.

Although Van Wey wasn’t employed by the charter school, he worked for California Preparatory Academies, which has been helping the charter school with its foreign exchange program. California Preparatory Academies, headed by Bill Batchelor, is now the Squaw Valley Academy, a private school sharing a campus with Livermore Valley Charter Prep at 3090 Independence Drive.

According to the court documents:

On Jan. 28, the 14-yearold student was in an after-school tutoring session at the charter school when Van Wey accused him of copying homework and humiliated him in front of others.

The student got upset and left but was found by Van Wey behind a grocery store and told to get into Van Wey’s car and go back to campus.

“Van Wey forcefully grabbed (John) Doe by his arms, picked Doe up and held him in a cradle position,” White said.

The student tried to get away but Van Wey’s grip “was too tight.” Van Wey reportedly cussed at the student and shoved him headfirst into the car, White said. The student was then driven back to the school.

The student had a laceration to his shin and complained of pain to his knees as a result of the incident.

Van Wey reportedly told Taylor, who then told Dillie of the incident the next morning.

Both Dillie and Taylor are legally bound to report instances or suspected instances of child abuse to law enforcement. The two allegedly never did, the documents state.

An investigation by Livermore police revealed that “Dillie and Taylor laughed and joked about the abuse incident, discussed the incident with others and minimized what occurred,” White wrote.

Dillie recently was appointed principal of Livermore Valley Charter School, the K-8 school. Parents said Taylor, who had been promoted to principal of Livermore Valley Charter Preparatory, resigned this week.

The corporation did not confirm Thursday whether Dillie was placed on administrative leave.