Fresno Unified defends decision not to order lockdown when parent stormed into classroom
Fresno Unified officials on Wednesday defended the decision not to hold a lockdown at Pyle Elementary on May 17 when an angry parent barged into a classroom during the school day.
The district addressed this and other concerns outlined in a letter signed by 35 of the elementary school’s educators, an image of which was reviewed by the Education Lab Wednesday.
The letter was posted yesterday afternoon on the Fresno Teachers Association’s Facebook page, accusing the district of an inadequate response to the incident.
Teachers’ criticism included questioning why district leaders did not place Pyle Elementary School on lock down on May 17.
A lockdown would have trapped the teacher and students in the room with the “verbally abusive” parent, FUSD said in the statement. Instead, the school’s principal and vice principals went to the classroom to evacuate students and teachers. There was “no immediate threat” to the rest of campus after the administration contained the parent, so no lockdown was issued.
The teachers’ letter also said the district did not provide a security guard following the incident despite multiple requests. District officials on Wednesday countered that this was a “public request from FTA, however not a repeated request internally.”
“As a response team, the district school leadership team and our safety team made the decision to provide a campus safety assistant to Pyle for the remainder of the week of the incident, until the parent had been served the stay-away order,” the statement said. “There have been no additional incidents on-site since this incident.”
The district’s release said the union did not respond to multiple requests from FUSD to see the letter signed by 35 Pyle educators.
FTA President Manuel Bonilla told the Ed Lab Wednesday that he promised Pyle educators he would not reveal the teachers’ names due to concerns about retaliation from the district.
Bonilla also said the district’s response on Wednesday “only corroborated that fear.”
The original incident occurred just after 8 a.m. on May 17 in a third-grade classroom. The parent entered the school as students were arriving for the day, meaning campus gates were open to allow a “free flow” of students heading to class, according to Diana Diaz, a district spokesperson.
FTA put out a list of demands in response to the incident, including a full investigation into the parent’s ability to enter the classroom during the school day. In Wednesday’s open letter, teachers said that same parent, who has not been identified publicly, had been involved in similar incidents before May 17.
Since the incident at Pyle, debates over campus safety on Fresno Unified campuses have only intensified.
The teachers’ letter on Tuesday was the second letter the teachers union has posted in recent weeks detailing teachers’ safety concerns.
The first was by FUSD high school teacher Sara Reyes, who shared her own concerns about not feeling adequately prepared to handle a student in her classroom who had a history of threatening violence against other students and teachers.
Several parents also continued the discussion of campus safety at the June 1 FUSD board meeting.
FUSD plans to discuss contracts between the Fresno Police Department and the district’s middle school campuses at the board meeting on June 15.
The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab at its website.
