LOS ANGELES (AP) — The move by school district administrators to replace the entire staff at an elementary school rocked by teacher sex abuse claims was a bold step to restore parents’ badly shaken confidence at the school, but it has been met with mixed feelings.
Some parents applauded the decision, but others protested the move and circulated a petition calling for the staff at Miramonte Elementary School to be reinstated.
All 120 staff members at Miramonte will be replaced as of Thursday after a twoday school shutdown as part of Los Angeles Unified School District’s investigation into the two veteran teachers arrested last week.
“ It’s the most severe action I’ve seen taken by a school district,” said Terri Miller, president of Stop Educator Sexual Abuse, Misconduct and Exploitation, an advocacy organization based in Las Vegas.
The decision Monday came after about three dozen people protested in front of the main doors of the school earlier in the day, some carrying a banner that read, “We the parents demand our children be protected from lewd teacher acts.” It also followed a march later in the day, in which 100 angry parents marched from the elementary school to the nearby administrators meeting.
Mother Maria Jimenez said some parents would at least like to have been notified that this was being considered as many feel it’s drastic. “ They did this without advising us or consulting us,” she said.
Parents on Monday night handed Superintendent John Deasy a petition with 400 signatures calling for open doors and allowing parents to observe classrooms and act as hall monitors.
But they did not want good teachers removed, said Martha Escutia, a lawyer and former state senator who is helping parents to organize a group named Mothers of Miramonte.
“This is not being very well received,” Escutia said. “ Some kids have established close relationships with their teachers.”
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