Escondido (Calif.) district found liable for student release that led to kidnapping

A jury has found the Escondido (Calif.) Union School District liable for more than $2 million in damages for allowing an unauthorized person to pick up a student from his elementary school. The boy vanished and is believed to be living in Mexico with his mother, who was deported a month before his alleged kidnapping in December 2010. U-T San Diego reports that the jury awarded the boy and his father more than $2 million in damages. Evidence showed that staff members at Farr Elementary allowed Enrique Ramirez to be picked up by his mother's boyfriend,even though the man was not listed on the boy's records as someone authorized to pick him up. That violated the district's policy, which states that a student will not be released to anyone not listed on a student's emergency card.