Several parents gathered for a meeting at Ontario High School hoping the conversation will help put and end to their problems – their children not feeling safe at school.
Karina Belmontes said her daughter hasn’t been to class in several days because she does not feel safe. “She fears for her safety. She’s been harassed, she’s been bullied, she’s been followed from class to class. She’s been followed to my car when I pick her up from school,” Belmontes said.
Another concerned parent also kept her daughter home this week. “They are being threatened, they are being jumped. My daughter has not been physically jumped yet but she has been threatened to be jumped. She has been threatened to be killed,” Kiana Howard said.
Chaffey Joint Union High School District Superintendent Dr. Mathew Holton said in a statement:
“The safety of our students will always be our top priority, and we encourage any student or family who has encountered a difficult situation at school or in the community to contact us.” They say “That happened in this case, and our team intervened swiftly with all involved to work towards resolution of the matter.”
But parents say the district is not doing enough.
“To me they are not doing anything, there are no consequences,” Howard said.
Belmontes added, “The only solution I got the other day was my daughter walked out with a paper in her hand for me to transfer her schools.”
“I don’t think it’s fair that my daughter is in class worried for her safety instead of concentrating in class. She has so much stress on her shoulders when she is only 14,15 years old,” Belmontes said. “ I want this to stop. I’m here to represent the moms of the other girls being affected and hopefully we can get closer to an answer.”
The district wants to emphasize that bullying and intimidation is not tolerated. They say can’t go into specifics due to privacy issues but they say they are actively investigating and appropriate discipline will be taken.
Source: NBC Los Angeles
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