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Parents and students tell board they fear for special-needs students after classroom assaults
Summary
Two public commenters recounted recent assaults and repeated harassment of students with disabilities, urging the district to hold aggressors accountable and to improve staffing and supports; trustees invited staff to follow up after the meeting.
During the second public-comment period, Tabitha Harrow told trustees her daughter with special needs was harassed and assaulted at a district school, and she said district responses had protected the attacker rather than the victim. Harrow asked the board to make behavioral classes mandatory for expelled students returning to school.
Sabrina Otto, a high-school student, described witnessing a special-needs student being —smashed continuously into [a] desk— and said staff and security had failed to intervene. Otto said she and others have —seen far too many things I can no longer just sit back and be a bystander to.—
Board members responded by asking Superintendent Salinas to speak with the commenters after the meeting, and Dr. Mikayla (a community speaker) urged hiring permanent department heads and support staff to address systemic gaps in special-education supervision.
The board did not take formal action or set timelines during the public meeting; trustees and staff indicated follow-up conversations and administrative review would occur.
