Parents allege retaliation after Redwood High senior cut from cheer; ask board to reinstate or allow transfer without changing schools

During general public comment at the Visalia Unified School District board meeting, Diana Torres and her husband, Frank Alvarado, said their daughter, a Redwood High senior identified as Haley, was cut from the varsity cheer team this year and that the reasons provided by school staff have shifted and been disproved.

Torres told the board the district has given changing explanations—behavior, attendance and scoring—for Haley’s removal and that those grounds “have been disproved.” She said the family now believes Haley was removed in retaliation for the mother’s advocacy. “I believe my daughter was not cut for her ability, but because of my advocacy. That is retaliation,” Torres said.

Torres said Superintendent designee Natalie Garza proposed as a resolution that Haley try out for cheer at Mount Whitney but only if she transferred schools. Torres called that recommendation punitive: “That is not resolution. That is punishment. It asks a senior to sacrifice her academics, her friendships, and stability for something that she has already committed 3 years to,” she told trustees.

Torres asked the board for two remedies: either reinstate Haley to the Redwood varsity cheer team, or allow her to cheer at Mount Whitney without transferring schools. She also asked the board to direct protections to ensure there would be no continued retaliation if the student were reinstated, and asked that the coach’s ability to lead be reviewed if unfair treatment continues.

Torres said the family provided printed documentation to trustees containing a timeline, records of communications and letters from teachers—some of whom, she said, oppose a transfer—and asked the board to review those materials. No board action was taken during public comment; the remarks were received by the board pursuant to the district’s public-comment rules.

Speakers at the podium identified themselves as parents and described the academic and extracurricular record of the student, citing AP coursework and leadership roles as context for their request. The district’s executive director of student services, Natalie Garza, was named in the comment as the superintendent’s designee who made the transfer suggestion.

The board did not announce any immediate next steps on the item during the meeting and did not vote; the parents asked trustees to review the documents they provided and consider the remedies requested.