El Cajon, Calif. -- The I-Team has tracked hate crimes and hate groups for months, and after a series of reports the I-Team has uncovered a hate group on one local high school campus.

The high school years can be a challenging time for many teens and parents, as it has been for one West Hills High School student, whose father preferred not to talk to the I-Team on camera. The African-American student left West Hills two years ago, but the legal fallout from his time on the campus continues. A lawsuit has been filed against the Grossmont Union High School District and the white student who allegedly "harassed and battered" the victim because of his race.

The lawsuit says the "defendant ... beat plaintiff about the head and face and made racial remarks against plaintiff while attacking him." The lawsuit also alleges "no school official ... took any action to control ... the defendant."

"What I think the public needs to know is we have zero-tolerance level for hate crimes," said Grossmont Union High School District Superintendent Bob Collins, whose district oversees West Hills High School. Collins can't comment about the lawsuit, but he said students and staff are working to fight hate.

"When you deal with human rights, it isn't an assembly, a week, a month. It's practicing these things every day," said Collins.

According to state education code, the district has to report hate crimes. Their most recent report to the state showed three acts of "hate violence" resulting in school expulsions -- one at Mt. Miguel, another at Monte Vista and one at Chaparral. But none of the expulsions for hate were at West Hills.

"Are there incidents that occur from time to time? Yes, but you don't paint a whole community with a single brush," Collins said.

While no hate crimes were reported, the I-Team did find the accrediting agency for the school, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) found tolerance to be a "critical area of need" during the WASC's campus visit to West Hills.

The WASC's report urged West Hills to "seek the inclusion of all students" and "promote social harmony" through "diversity, social awareness and empathy."

Collins said the district is making progress and points to a recent award for diversity.

But Estela de los Rios, who runs the Center for Social Advocacy in El Cajon, disagreed. She said, "Students should be respected and feel safe attending their school."

De los Rios said hate crimes do occur on the West Hills campus, but aren't always reported. "A student's not going to speak up because he doesn't want other students to mock him," she said.

An I-Team producer spoke to students attending West Hills, and students said students of different races are getting along at the school. They also said a white supremacist gang is on campus, but they feel the gang is small and out of the mainstream.