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Parents press board over bus‑aide abuse case; meeting briefly halted after disruptive speaker
Summary
Several speakers at public comment urged accountability over a substitute bus aide who pleaded guilty to multiple assaults; the meeting was briefly recessed and a disruptive speaker was removed for racist and mocking rhetoric.
A tense public‑comment period on Oct. 13 focused on the district’s handling of a criminal case involving a substitute bus aide who recently pleaded guilty to multiple assault charges.
Speakers representing affected families—among them Carla Millsap and James Millsap—described the assault of several special‑needs children and said school officials delayed an investigation and allowed the employee to continue working for weeks after the first report. "When a system fails at that, nothing we do matters," Carla Millsap said, urging the board to prioritize child safety over policy or ideology.
Other commenters called for outside review and criticized the district’s priorities. Jennifer Peterson, a public commentator, referenced a U.S. Department of Justice memo and asserted that removal of speakers and repeated microphone cuts risk federal scrutiny. The board chair interrupted a separate, theatrical speaker (identified in the transcript as Shamgar Connors) for mocking and racist language; the chair called the rhetoric "racist" and ordered the speaker removed, followed by a five‑minute recess.
Chair remarks emphasized decorum and the board’s public‑meeting rules. After the recess the board resumed the agenda and continued with staff presentations. The board did not make any immediate personnel announcements in open session related to the criminal case during the meeting.
What’s next: Several public speakers urged the board to pursue a third‑party audit or to provide a fuller account of investigative steps; the board did not take a public vote or issue a new directive on the case during the Oct. 13 meeting.
