Parents and a student tell board of alleged mistreatment and urge accountability

During public comment at the Lake County School Board meeting, a student and his family described incidents they say involve staff misconduct and threats toward their child.

Student Noah Ortega told the board that during play at school a teacher “yelled at me” and “grabbed me by the shirt.” He also told the board: “Leeloo Schaefer threatened to burn down my house and kill my family, kill my friends, and kill me when I’m asleep.” The board thanked Noah for speaking but did not announce an immediate investigation or formal response during the meeting.

Noah’s mother, identifying herself as Letty Ortega, listed several incidents she said had occurred in local schools and named multiple people she said had been involved. She said she had submitted paperwork to seek the removal or consideration for removal of one person she named and asked that the board provide accountability, saying she had seen “a lot of incidents so close to each other” and that parents were not seeing charges or consequences.

Pablo Alvarez, who identified himself as Noah’s grandfather, said Noah has autism, that his grandson is afraid to attend school, and that family members had been restricted from attending his school activities. Alvarez asked the district to resolve the situation so his grandson could fully participate in school events.

Board members acknowledged the comments and thanked the speakers. The meeting record does not include a board motion, staff report, or immediate directive in response to the allegations; no formal investigative findings or charges were reported during the session.

These statements to the board are allegations as presented in public comment. The board and district did not provide formal responses or confirm actions during the meeting; any disciplinary or investigative steps would be expected to follow district procedures and are not recorded in the transcript of this session.