Parents tell Paramount Unified board of alleged bullying and special-education transportation problems

Two parents used the public-comment portion of the Paramount Unified board meeting to raise concerns about school discipline and special-education transportation.

Daniel Valena told the board his daughter Mia was allegedly slapped by another student and said he believes school staff — he named Miss Williams and Dr. Robins — did not appropriately investigate or discipline the student who struck his child. Valena said he and his wife were subsequently removed from campus and that the situation left his daughter distressed. "My daughter got slapped...they're being bullies," Valena said in his three-minute comment.

Another speaker identified in the transcript as "Mr la la" described a separate family situation: his son Lucas receives district-provided transportation because of a disability and his daughter Luna had previously ridden with him but was told she no longer qualifies because she is now in general education. He asked the board to create an exception so the siblings can continue to travel together and asked whether the district would reimburse parents' mileage if both children must be driven separately.

Board members acknowledged the comments, and at least one trustee asked staff to follow up. The meeting transcript records these as public comments; no formal board action or vote on these individual complaints was taken during the meeting, and staff said they would follow up if contact information was provided.

The concerns raised touch on student safety, discipline processes and the district's special-education transportation policies; parents asked the board to consider policy or operational changes to avoid separating siblings when possible and to improve on-campus communication systems cited by a commenter.