The return of longtime physical education teacher Peter Colombo to the classroom has sparked strong backlash from families and students, even as his lawsuit against the Palo Alto Unified School District moves toward trial, report Navya Narayanan and Mayu Altekar-Okazaki in the student newspaper at Palo Alto High School in California.
Colombo was reassigned to Fletcher Middle School this year but was arrested in 2022 on charges that he sexually assaulted a sixth grader two decades ago. Prosecutors dismissed the case in April 2023, citing insufficient evidence.
For many in the school community, that decision did little to resolve their unease. “Parents asked for clarification and transparency from the district office,” Rich Lee, a Fletcher parent, was quoted as saying at a recent school board meeting. “Students and parents voiced their concerns in the school board and were met with silence.” Lee said families deserved reassurance that their children’s safety and emotional well-being matter.
Other parents voiced frustration that the district made the staffing decision in private. “The decision to bring Mr Colombo back was made with no justification, through an unknown process behind closed doors and under legal duress,” said Casey Walker, the parent of Fletcher graduates. “That decision is not one that any reasonable person can trust. It needs to be unmade immediately.”
Students also spoke directly to the board about how the situation has affected them. Seventh grader Emily Ceresnak told trustees she has avoided her PE class whenever Colombo is present. And former Fletcher student Kayla Barile said the controversy has disrupted learning for her and her classmates.
Colombo, who has taught in Palo Alto schools since 1998, is fighting back in federal court. He filed a lawsuit claiming district leaders violated his rights when they placed him on leave and publicized the allegations against him. In March, a judge ruled that part of his case could move forward. The court allowed his procedural due process claims to stand, including what lawyers call a “stigma-plus” claim, which argues the district harmed his reputation while also limiting his ability to work.
At the same time, the court dismissed Colombo’s substantive due process claim, which would have required him to show his fundamental liberty interests were infringed in a way that “shocks the conscience.” The judge also threw out his discrimination claims under Title VII, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, and Title IX. What remains is a narrower case centered on whether the district deprived him of fair process when it acted on the old allegation.
Documents filed in court show that the district hired an outside investigator after the criminal charges were dropped. That review, completed in May 2024, concluded the allegation “was not substantiated due to a lack of evidence.” Colombo returned from administrative leave later that summer to a non-teaching role before being reassigned to Fletcher in 2025.
For parents, however, legal rulings and investigative reports do not dispel the sense of risk. “Tell the students that their safety and emotional well-being matters,” Lee said. “Stop intimidating the students who come to you for comfort.”
The district has not publicly explained its decision to bring Colombo back to teaching, citing ongoing litigation. A trial in his civil case is scheduled for January 2026. Meanwhile, petitions continue to circulate among Palo Alto families calling for his removal from Fletcher.
The concerns shine a spotlight on the tension between legal outcomes and community trust. Charges were dropped, not dismissed by a jury, but abandoned for lack of evidence. That has left a cloud of suspicion that has proven difficult to clear. For many families, the focus is not on Colombo’s rights in court but on their children’s day-to-day comfort at school.
“Just think about how she’s distressed after reading about him and then getting no reassurance from the district level,” said Julia Ceresnak of her younger sister. “My sister and every girl at Fletcher needs to feel safe and protected at school.”