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Parent alleges online bullying and says district overturned principal’s decision on graduation speaker
Summary
At the Chico Unified board meeting, a parent identified as Maggie said sexually explicit fanfiction targeting her son circulated and that the district office overturned the principal’s decision to bar the student from speaking at graduation without contacting the family, a claim the parent urged the board to review.
A Chico Unified parent said at Monday’s board meeting that sexually explicit fanfiction about her son circulated among students and that the district later allowed the student who posted the material to speak at graduation despite an earlier principal decision to bar that student.
"They simply overruled the decision on what they call a technicality regarding an informal internal application document to speak at graduation," the parent, identified in the meeting as Maggie, told the board during the items-from-the-floor public comment period. She said neither the district office nor relevant staff contacted her family before reversing the principal’s decision.
Maggie described a sustained pattern of bullying, said her son needed counseling, and told trustees the incident damaged his mental health: "For three weeks, my husband and I watched for signs of suicidal tendencies. We put him into counseling." She said the student who posted the material was disciplined but, in her account, later continued to bully others.
Maggie named district staff she said had dismissed her concerns, and said she had spoken to the principal and a school counselor when the alleged bullying came to light. "When I spoke to Pedro Caldera and Greg Blake about this, they both dismissed my concerns and told me the student was going to be allowed to speak," she said at the meeting.
Trustees did not take action during the public comment period. The district’s public remarks in the meeting did not include an immediate response to the specific allegations. The family requested that the board "look closely at those who put into leadership" and said the district should weigh actions, not resumes, when granting privileges such as graduation speaking slots.
The board’s public comment procedures were explained earlier in the meeting: speakers are allotted three minutes, with a bell at 30 seconds remaining. The district’s disciplinary processes and any subsequent decisions about graduation speakers were not detailed in the public record during the meeting beyond Maggie’s account.
Next steps: The parent asked trustees to review the situation and urged the district to prioritize students’ mental-health impacts in discipline and privilege decisions. Trustees did not announce immediate investigative actions at the meeting; the item remained under public comment and for possible follow-up.
