Sweetwater Union High School District parents showed up to a Monday evening board meeting to protest bussing, budgets, and other issues that have recently surfaced within the district.
The chants of protestors echoed through the gym at Montgomery High School as the meeting began. The group even interrupted the Pledge of Allegiance.
Protestors were most outspoken about the 30 bus routes serving four high schools that the district cut back in May to save money.
After facing blowback from parents at the beginning of the school year, the SUHSD asked parents for a few weeks to analyze bus use for the school year. The district they could potentially alter routes based on how many students are using them, or remap walking routes to provide students with a safer route to campus.
The district announced at the meeting it would be restoring two routes to San Ysidro High School that will accommodate 110 bus pass-holding students. Those routes are Route 211 at Camino de la Plaza and Bibler Drive, and Route 223 at Servando Avenue and Bluehaven Court.
Some parents said the two routes will do little for the students in the areas in need of the most help.
One parent said her child is harassed by police and Border Patrol agents during his walk to school.
The district said that students can get on a waitlist for bus route spots and could be selected in a random drawing for the spots on Tuesday.
The SUHSD has also come under fire for reinstating an Eastlake High School math teacher who was put on leave for undisclosed reasons last year.
A representative for the SUHSD said neither it nor Eastlake High can comment on the personnel matter, but a parent told NBC 7 that teacher John Stephens openly talked about erectile dysfunction and Viagra in his daughter’s math class.
"Reinstating Stephens to any school is wrong,” one parent said.
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The district heard more concerns from parents at Monday's meeting but did not take any action.
Last week the district tried to reassure parents that its budget was balanced despite it being disapproved by the County Office of Education.
According to the county, the disapproval was due in part because the SUHSD had an $11 million shortfall that the district hopes to solve with “items to be determined.” In a letter to the school community, the district said it stands by its budget and claims it has been met with inaccurate financial projections and letters insinuating wrongdoing and misrepresentation.
The district recently voted against accepting $12 million no-risk loan from the county to help it pay back the money it borrowed from the Mello-Roos fund.
The district fell out of compliance with Mello-Roos rules when it failed to pay back the loan by June 30. The SUHSD said it would pay the loan back, with interest, by 2020.
Parents also claimed the SUHSD put Eastlake special education students at risk by waiting nearly a month into the school year to hire a credentialed special education teacher. The district said the problem is not a funding issue, but a staffing issue.
One parent detailed an incident that prompted him to call the Chula Vista Police Department to his son’s school.
Chula Vista police confirmed they responded to a call at the school on July 26. According to a report, a special education student had flipped over a desk and had an outburst. Other students left the classroom until the situation was calm, which police say is the protocol.
The parent said he called the police department days after the incident because the district didn’t act.
Chula Vista police went back to the school three days later to meet with all parties involved. There was no crime and no one was injured.
