Padilla family seeks Fresno Unified records on school emergency response

The family of Daniel Padilla Jr. is pressing Fresno Unified to turn over records on how Fresno High School responds when a student collapses, turning a tragic death into a test of what the district knew, documented and disclosed. Padilla, 14, died March 9 after a medical emergency during physical education class, and his family is now asking Fresno County Superior Court to order the district to fully comply with a public-records request.

Attorneys for the family filed the original request March 18, then sent a supplemental request six days later seeking documents tied to medical emergencies at Fresno High, including automated external defibrillator records, emergency response policies and risk-management materials. Fresno Unified issued a 14-day extension on April 13 and later released only limited records, prompting the family to file a petition for writ of mandate.

The case puts a spotlight on the district’s response timeline and the paper trail surrounding a fatal collapse on campus. Local reports said Padilla collapsed while playing basketball during PE, and first responders were called to Fresno High around lunchtime. The school nurse and a school resource officer provided aid before an ambulance took him to the hospital, where he died. Fresno Unified later said mental-health professionals would be available at Fresno High for students and staff after the death.

The legal dispute also raises broader questions about school preparedness in California. State law requires annual information for school staff on sudden cardiac arrest, the school’s emergency response plan and proper AED use when an AED is placed in a K-12 school, and instructions must be posted next to each device. Separate school-safety proposals and analyses call for comprehensive safety plans to include procedures for sudden cardiac arrest or other life-threatening medical emergencies.

For Fresno families, the concern is not abstract. Padilla’s relatives held a public tribute outside Fresno High on March 27, more than two weeks after his death, as the community continued to grieve a freshman whose collapse stunned the campus. Their court fight now asks a narrower but consequential question: whether Fresno Unified’s records will show a system that was ready, a response that was followed, and a district that met its duty to disclose what happened when a child suffered a medical emergency at school.