Parents and former employees urge La Palma council to investigate Tiny Tots staffing and alleged wrongful terminations

Dozens of parents and former employees pressed the La Palma City Council on April 1 to investigate recent staff changes and alleged mistreatment connected to the city’s Tiny Tots program, saying the program’s quality and employee treatment have suffered.

Misty Torres, who identified herself as the Tiny Tots teacher for almost seven years, told the council she “poured my heart and soul into this program” and urged officials not to “let another good employee slip away.” Jocelyn Padilla, a former La Palma employee from 2021 to 2024, described what she called a wrongful termination in March 2024 and said the city later reported her as a “no call, no show” to unemployment, which she said harmed her job prospects and reputation.

“Instead of being given the time and support I needed and understanding of my recent acceptance into my dream program, I had to worry about the next move for stability,” Padilla said, describing HR as a single‑person office and asking the council to investigate alleged false claims to unemployment.

Several parents said Tiny Tots prepares children for transitional kindergarten and kindergarten. Jasmine Ng, a parent and college professor, described how the program taught her child “sight words” and other skills that eased the school transition. By contrast, other residents alleged sudden staff departures, inconsistent classroom supervision and unclear chains of command after the recreation supervisor and certain staff members were criticized by speakers.

Chris Louie, who identified himself as a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, said parents had presented specific instances in which Tiny Tots was left short‑staffed and called for stronger transparency and an independent review of the recreation office. Chloe Genoyan and other speakers said they had interviewed past employees and requested public records or the results of any internal investigations.

Speakers repeatedly raised the role of a recreation supervisor and named an on‑site supervisor (referenced in comments as Janelle Adams) as central to many complaints; Jocelyn Padilla recounted being hugged by that supervisor and told, “Your parents can handle you financially,” which Padilla called inappropriate and humiliating. Speakers also criticized remote HR arrangements and said they were told some personnel complaints were dismissed by a private consultant.

Council did not take immediate formal action during the public comment period. City staff previously told speakers that matters raised during public comment are referred to staff for response or placed on a future agenda. Several residents asked the council to direct staff to provide a public report or to commission an independent investigation into alleged wrongful terminations and department management.

The council moved on to other agenda items; any formal inquiry, staff report or next hearing was not announced during the segment of the meeting that included these public comments.