Parents from Gabilan Hills School asked the Hollister School
District on Tuesday night to take immediate action toward a yard
duty who they say mistreats their children and to stop principal
Diane Campbell from discriminating against Latino parents.
Parents from Gabilan Hills School asked the Hollister School District on Tuesday night to take immediate action toward a yard duty who they say mistreats their children and to stop principal Diane Campbell from discriminating against Latino parents.
The parents said since they complained about the yard duty yelling at their children, they’ve been banned from campus during lunch time.
Campbell, who didn’t attend the meeting, denied the accusations when contacted by phone Tuesday night. She said the campus lockdown during the lunch hour was the result of increased security after an attempted kidnapping during the week of March 17.
“I didn’t want to bring tons of attention to this incident because I didn’t want to scare parents,” she said. “A police report was filed, and for the safety of all of the children, the best thing to do was to secure the campus during lunch.”
Campbell said the attempted abduction occurred the same week in March, when parents say a yard duty shook a little girl. The parents said their complaints about the abusive yard duty was the reason behind the ban.
However, Campbell denied the shaking incident occurred. She said lunch hour at the school had become too chaotic with many parents entering the school from different entrances. In spite of any lunchtime ban, Campbell said all parents are still welcome on campus.
“We have one of the most active parent clubs in the district,” she said. “Parents have never been denied the right to come into the classroom and help. We’re just trying to secure the lunch hour because so many people are coming in and out of the yard during that time.”
Esparanza Moreno and several other parents spoke from a crowd of more than 20, and demanded the board fire the yard duty they allege is abusive, and look into Campbell’s abilities to administrate fairly. They claim the abuse has been going on at the school for three years.
“This yard duty has shaken kindergartners by the arms and she screams at the children,” Moreno said. “There is a lot of abuse going on at that school and we don’t like it.”
When parents brought their concerns about the screaming yard duty to her, Campbell said she spent more than six hours discussing the matter with them, and even brought in a translator to make sure her message was clear for everyone. Aside from the one report about the screaming, Campbell said there has never been a formal complaint about physical abuse against the yard duty.
“Since the complaints were made about her, I reassigned her to the yard and I have covered the lunch table area since then,” she said. “I tried to explain to the parents that we are short staffed right now and when you’re watching more than 200 kids, the situation can sometimes get tense.”
Mickie Luna, state director of the California League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), said the organization supported the parents.
“I grew up in Hollister, was educated in Hollister and I’m very proud of the education system here,” she said. “I think there might be a violation of education code here. The state encourages parents to come to school and help out and these parents are being turned away. I want the board to know that LULAC will follow through with these concerns and continue to support these parents.”
Luna contacted Hollister School District Superintendent Judith Barranti last week, who then contacted Campbell. After returning the phone call in an effort to discuss the problem, Campbell said she never heard back.
Blanca Valadez addressed the board in Spanish. She was brought to tears when explaining how worried she is about not being able to visit her son at lunchtime. He is anemic, and she worries about him not eating enough during the day.
Moreno said there are many children with health problems, and it puts the parents’ minds at ease to be able to share lunch with them and make sure the students are eating.
“We’ve been there everyday for three years until now,” she said. “The kids know us by name and it has never been a problem.”
With the new ban of parents on campus during lunch, Hispanic parents wait in the parking everyday to bring their children lunch, while Caucasian parents walk right onto campus, according to Moreno.
“We asked the administration why they can go on campus and we can’t, and they said ‘well we can’t regulate everyone,'” she told the board.
Campbell resents the fact she’s being called a racist, and said in her 32 years of being an educator in Hollister, she has always strived to help the Latino population excel.
“I’ve served on the language learners task force, and I think I’m the only Anglo teacher in Hollister who has ever volunteered to be a bilingual teacher,” she said. “This whole decision to close campus was a security decision and most of the feedback I have received from parents has been ‘thank you for keeping my child safe.'”
Hollister School Board President Dee Brown said they will address the issue.
“The concerns brought to the board tonight are very serious,” she said. “We’re going to have to bring this information to the staff and discuss it so that everyone’s concerns are addressed.”
Christine Tognetti can be reached at 637-5566, ext. 330 or at [email protected].
