A Lincoln parent and district teacher, Vanessa Gutierrez, used the public comment period at the Jan. 21 Western Placer Unified board meeting to report repeated bullying and an alleged sexualized assault in a school bathroom and to describe what she called insufficient follow-up by school administrators.

Who spoke: Vanessa Gutierrez identified herself as a district teacher and the parent of a kindergarten and fourth-grade student. She described a sequence of incidents beginning earlier in the school year involving a fifth-grade student who allegedly harassed and physically shoved her kindergartner and fourth-grader.

Allegations in her account: Gutierrez said a school administrator contacted her family after a November incident in which her fourth-grader wrote an account saying another student “was pushing me against the walls and holding me there,” “asked to touch my private parts and I said no, but he still tried,” and “peeking under the stall and watching me.” Gutierrez said the principal had her son write an account and then, before notifying parents, made them sit together in the principal’s office to discuss what happened, which the parent said caused distress.

Parent concerns and district limitations: Gutierrez told the board she was told the district could not disclose discipline specifics due to confidentiality but that administrators assured the family the students would be separated; she said follow-up was “limited.” She said some classroom teachers were unaware of the severity of the incident. Gutierrez asked the board to take responsibility for student safety and for consistent communication and said she had escalated the matter to district staff.

What the board heard and next steps: The board did not take immediate formal action during the meeting. Trustees and staff did not publicly dispute Gutierrez’s description; the superintendent and administration were present and had earlier set public-comment rules. The parent’s remarks were entered into the public record and the board’s meeting minutes. Gutierrez said she had contacted administrators and asked for further measures; the board may refer the matter to staff for follow-up consistent with district process and confidentiality rules.

Provenance: This article is based on Gutierrez’s public comment during the communications section of the Jan. 21 meeting and her verbatim account of her son’s written statement.