Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Special Education Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parent tells board Elliot School is unsafe for non-verbal and special‑needs students
Summary
A Gilroy parent told the board his non-verbal autistic child was lost on the bus, bitten twice and came home with facial scratches; he alleged chronic understaffing and asked for daily live staffing updates on the school website.
At the Gilroy Unified School District board meeting, parent Brandon Mcpay delivered a detailed and emotional public comment alleging multiple safety failures in special education at Elliot School. “On the first day of school, our non-verbal daughter was lost on the bus for over an hour,” Mcpay said. He said the child was bitten twice within five days and returned home with scratches; he alleged that at one point 15 students with moderate support needs were supervised by one teacher and one paraeducator.
Mcpay described the incidents as a “disaster waiting to happen” and said the principal’s response amounted to accepting frustration and biting as expected behavior among students still learning communication. He accused the district’s use of third‑party transportation of disproportionately assigning special‑education routes to outside vendors and said he believes some episodes meet the threshold for neglect.
“We want transparency, and I want to know who is in my child’s classroom each day,” Mcpay said, proposing a live daily staffing update on the district website so families would not learn about injuries after the fact. He said his child will not return to Elliot as recommended by program staff and urged public pressure for change.
The parent’s comments were not followed by an extended on-the-record response from district leadership at the meeting. The board took no immediate public action in response to the comment during the session; trustees later continued with the posted agenda.
The allegations raise questions about staff-to-student ratios in specialized classrooms, transportation oversight, incident reporting and whether the district’s existing family‑notification processes meet expectations of affected parents. The board did not announce any immediate investigation or follow-up directives during the meeting; trustees and staff have previously noted ongoing efforts to staff programs and provide behavioral supports at sites across the district.
