On Saturday, the Riverside Unified School District expanded its response to a lawsuit filed Thursday, alleging that a teenage girl with Down Syndrome was raped aboard a school bus, and that negligence by the Riverside Unified School District and a private bus company compounded the girl’s trauma.

“We embrace our duty to keep kids safe each day,” the statement reads in part. “Sometimes, we contract with agencies to provide services that benefits students (we wouldn’t choose them if their track record didn’t warrant that trust) but we also put strict guidelines, policies and procedures into place which are designed to keep kids safe.

“In this instance, it seems as though our expectations and guidelines may not have been adhered to by a bus company employee,” the statement continues.

The lawsuit, filed in Riverside County Superior Court, seeks more than $25,000 in damages from the school district and Student Transportation of America, which on its website calls itself “the most trusted provider in school bus transportation.”

Representatives of Student Transportation of America were not immediately available for comment on Saturday.

According to the lawsuit, the defendants “(allowed) a violent perpetrator to rape and criminally sexually assault, and sodomize (the victim) while under school and bus company supervision.”

Joshua Naggar, the lawyer for the girl’s family, said Friday that the lawsuit is meant to both give a voice to a victim unable to speak for herself and for the larger special needs community.

The girl was 14 at the time of her alleged assault. Her alleged assailant was 12 at the time. Juvenile court criminal charges have been filed in the case, according to John Hall, a spokesman for the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

According to the complaint, the rape occurred in February 2016, while the girl was on the way to school.

“Our intent is not to place blame here, but to acknowledge the tragic nature of these allegations and let you know that we are working on a resolution,” Riverside Unified’s statement continues.

Although the district’s statement on Saturday notes that it still has not seen the lawsuit, “we are working to ensure a swift and just resolution to this matter.”