Some California elementary school parents are looking for answers over reported bullying by students in classrooms, causing some teachers to walk out in tears, they said.
The parents spoke during public comment at the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Education meeting Dec. 13. They said a group of 5th graders are behind the trouble at California Elementary School in Costa Mesa and the issue has continued since last year.
They said the troublemaking students curse, yell, throw objects, and cause so many disturbances in the classroom that students are unable to learn.
“There are children that are being bullied on a daily basis. There are teachers that are crying because they’re not able to get through a lesson,” parent Amber Sides said during the meeting.
Sides also read letters from anonymous students concerning the issue.
“One bad thing that has been happening is that a lot of kids have been playing violently. Another is that there has been a lot of bullying in my grade. We haven’t been able to learn because of the bad behavior,” one letter read.
In another letter, a student said her class became chaotic because of three disruptive kids.
“I don’t like it when the teacher is in a bad mood because of [these students],” the student’s letter read. “We don’t learn as much because we’re always interrupted.”
Another parent Andre Amiri said he and other parents have met with the district’s assistant superintendent of elementary instruction, John Drake, and other staff regarding the concerns.
“The teachers sat in, the 5th-grade teachers, and they were crying and not saying much but, that was enough for me to know that we are in a dire situation,” Amiri said. “Just for their own sanity and health, we need intervention.”
According to Amiri, the same cohort of students is believed responsible for an incident last year, when a 4th-grade teacher took a leave of absence for mental health issues.
Amiri called for more school interventions and parent involvement. He said several parents are considering withdrawing their children from the school.
Parent Michelle Cusumano pleaded with the board for stronger disciplinary actions and claimed students’ education is suffering due to the incidents.
“The teachers are laughed at, they’re made fun of, and abused with no recourse,” she said.
Another parent, Brandon Mungai said he’s paying $400 a month in tutoring fees for his daughter because the disruptions have interfered with her learning.
He said his daughter routinely tells him what the bullies did each day at school, or which teachers were made to cry.
“I’m considering pulling [her] out of school. But it sucks because I live right down the street,” he said.
A spokesperson for the school district told The Epoch Times in an email that the disruptions were being taken seriously, but addressing them will take time.
“While the actions we’ve implemented have gradually improved classroom disruptions, there are some interventions that can take longer to show improvement and progress,” spokesperson Annette Franco said.
Franco said some actions the school has already taken include individual and group counseling of the students in question with parental consent, routine check-ins with teachers and staff for students, suspension, and the loss of privileges.
She also said some state laws have limited the school’s ability to properly discipline the students. Passed in 2013 and expanded in 2019, AB 420 and SB 419 say suspensions for “willful defiance or disruption” are prohibited for elementary and middle school students.
“While we are not able to comment on individual students, I assure you that we are taking measures to address this and are continually re-evaluating needs and implementing more intensive measures to maintain a positive learning environment for all students,” a letter to parents from the school district sent last week read.
