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Parents and advocates tell Rialto board special-education IEPs are being ignored; demand accountability
Summary
Multiple parents and advocates described alleged failures to follow Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), safety incidents and poor communication; they urged investigations and promised to escalate matters if the district does not act.
Several parents addressed the board on Feb. 11 with detailed complaints about special-education services and Individualized Education Program (IEP) compliance.
Manuela Cortés said her daughter was harmed and that the district ignored the IEP; Cortés described an incident that she characterized as an institutional failure and said she had removed her child from school because of safety concerns. "This is not just negligence; this is institutional abuse," Cortés said during public comment.
Other parents described long delays in incident reporting, denials of requested evaluations, unexpected reassignments of long-serving 1:1 aides and poor communication from school leadership and human resources. A parent who said her child had been assigned a substitute after a decade with a single aide said the family received no clear answers and demanded immediate action.
Ana González (speaker during public comment) said she filed a formal complaint and urged the district to bring human resources into IEP meetings as appropriate and to investigate staffing decisions that affect students with complex needs. Dr. MacMealene (director of student services) and Superintendent Álvarez responded in the meeting by saying the district is meeting with families and conducting reviews; staff detailed site visits and an ongoing effort to address concerns.
What’s next: Trustees asked administration to meet directly with affected families, to follow up on pending complaints, and to report back. Several parents said they would escalate to higher authorities if local remedies did not resolve the problems.
Ending: The board heard multiple personal testimonies alleging systemic failures in special-education delivery and directed staff to follow up with affected families.
