OAKLAND — With Oakland Technical High School as the backdrop, a group of parents and teachers announced this week they are suing the Oakland Unified School District for injuries they say they suffered by police officers at an Oct. 23 school board meeting.

The complaint is “for violation of our clients’ Constitutional rights, specifically their Constitutional right to engage in free speech and to engage in public activity without being beat up or injured,” Dan Siegel, the group’s attorney, said at the Thursday press conference which began with a loud chant of “No more closures. Oakland is not for sale.” The reference was to the district’s plan to close some public schools due to declining enrollment and severe budget constraints.

The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and names as defendants the Oakland Unified School District, district police Chief Jeff Godown and Sgt. Donald Perrier, among others. It was filed after the school district rejected the group’s excessive force claim, filed in November.

The legal action by the eight plaintiffs stems from an Oct. 23 meeting in which parents and teachers protested against the large number of charter schools and the district’s plan to close schools, including an earlier decision to shut Kaiser Elementary in the Oakland hills.

The complaint seeks unspecified monetary and punitive damages and asks for a jury trial.

At the meeting, protesters clashed with police at barricades placed in front of the school board’s dais.

“We were there protesting peacefully with guitars,” said Amy Haruyama, a first-grade teacher. “We had no idea what was about to happen …. I didn’t even see them coming. I fell. I thought I was trapped or something.”

According to the complaint, Haruyama was standing on the auditorium side of the barrier when Perrier used his baton to shove her, knocking her to the ground. Haruyama was “bruised and suffered from whiplash from falling,” the complaint states.

The most visibly injured person at the Thursday press conference was parent Saru Jayaraman, who was on crutches. According to the complaint, three or four officers “jumped onto” her and pinned her to the ground in making the arrest. She is listed as 5-foot-2 and weighing 113 pounds.

Jayaraman says she suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament, sprained medial collateral ligament, damaged meniscus and bone cartilage in her right knee, pain and emotional distress, according to the complaint. She said she underwent surgery for the knee injury on Dec. 31 and the recovery period is six months.

District spokesman John Sasaki said the district does not comment on pending litigation,

Jayaraman said “more important” than her “knee or the injuries was the formation of a coalition of parents, teachers and students called Oakland Not For Sale. The coalition is aiming to hold the school board members accountable for actions, including school closures and establishing more charters.

“What we are doing for the first time in Oakland’s history is that we are going to get this Oakland (Unified) School Board President (Jody London) recalled,” she said. Jayaraman said London is only the first school board member targeted for recall.

According to Jayaraman, the signature gathering effort will begin over the weekend and the drive already has raised $10,000. She said it’s been endorsed by the Oakland Education Association.

“We are forming a new school board and a new district that values public education — the property of the people,” Jayaraman said.

The coalition also introduced two candidates it supports: Alicia Johnson, who is running for London’s District 1, and Cherisse Gash in District 3.

The recall effort began in November against London, who filed a response with the Oakland city clerk on Dec. 23. The petitioners will be required to collect more than 9,000 signatures of registered voters in District 1.

“During this time (on the school board), I have made hard decisions to preserve the financial viability of the school district in a state that funds public schools below the national average per pupil, and at a time when expenses are rising,” London states in her Dec. 23 response. “The costs of a recall election must be borne by OUSD; a recall election is unnecessary given this seat is up for re-election in 2020.”

She said in a Thursday email that “I announced over a year ago that I am not seeking re-election as my younger daughter graduated in May 2019 and I believe a parent of students in OUSD schools should hold the seat.”