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Classified staff and a parent raise retaliation, safety and pay concerns at Stockton Unified board meeting
Summary
Multiple classified employees (CSEA 821 representatives) and a parent alleged workplace disrespect, retaliation, lack of equipment, safety incidents and requested bargaining and independent investigations; a parent asked that her complaint be reclassified under board policy 1312.3 and for an independent probe.
Several community members used the board’s public-comment period to deliver formal workplace and safety concerns and to call for district accountability.
Michelle Torres, a parent, told the board she had filed a formal complaint alleging “retaliation, discrimination, harassment, and unsafe behavior” connected to the Edison baseball program and requested that the district reclassify her complaint under board policy 1312.3, provide written retaliation protections, and commission an independent investigation. “My family didn’t ask for special treatment. We asked for honesty, safety, and the rules to apply to everyone,” Torres said.
Representatives of CSEA 821 read statements from classified employees describing long-standing concerns about pay, staffing and safety. Bernardet Armenta and Hector Seaniano summarized members’ requests for “fair wages” and “proper equipment” so employees can perform duties. Charles Carneahan, a campus security monitor of nearly 20 years, described physical assaults on staff and said one colleague had been sidelined with concussion and rib injuries. "We just need something done with our safety and following the procedures on AB553," Carneahan said.
Luis Baros, speaking for CSEA 821, urged the board to engage with classified staff at their worksites and to bargain in good faith. He said members fear retaliation when they speak up and asked trustees to take concrete action beyond “lip service.”
Trustees accepted the comments into the record; the meeting minutes and votes that followed dealt with unrelated consent and action items. The parent requested reclassification of her complaint and an independent investigation — a procedural request the board did not act on during the meeting. District staff present did not provide a detailed response to the allegations on the record at that time.
