A dozen local moms gathered right outside the front gate of Telfair Avenue Elementary School in Pacoima on Monday morning, but they weren’t there to just drop off their children for class. Instead, the group waved signs and chanted “Save our Teachers” in support of staff currently facing possible displacement by the school administration.
To the parents, the only person they want to see removed is the principal, Arminda Gonzalez.
The primary concern for these parents is the potential loss of two fifth-grade teachers although they’ve been with the school for years. They’ve been told the school’s low enrollment is the cause for displacing teachers and staff.
When a teacher loses their position due to structural changes, including budget cuts or low enrollment, but are still employed by the school district, they are placed in a pool to work as substitutes as they try to find a permanent position.
But this issue is only the latest in a series of problems that parents said they’ve had with the school ever since Gonzalez became the principal around three years ago. Since her arrival, they claim Telfair Elementary has been losing several senior faculty members, and some have been replaced by less experienced staff.
“Parents don’t want to have their children here anymore,” said Gabriela Ramirez, a mom who organized the demonstration. “We know that there are many parents who are deciding to send their children to charter schools, but [Gonzalez] isn’t doing anything to keep parents here.”
Ramirez has volunteered for the school since 2019, when her daughter first enrolled in transitional kindergarten. Her daughter completed fifth grade earlier this year, while her son, who has special needs, is currently in second grade.
Following Gonzalez’s arrival, Ramirez said communication between parents and the school has gone downhill, and many parents no longer feel welcome at Telfair Elementary.
She described an incident that occurred in a School Site Council (SSC) Committee meeting, where staff, parents and community members met to develop, monitor and approve the Student Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) and oversee Title I federal funding allocations.
According to Ramirez, Gonzalez wanted to fund a position for another assistant principal. The teachers voted no, preferring that the money be used to bring in another teacher. In response, Gonzalez allegedly told them she could do whatever she wanted and went ahead to allot funds for a third assistant principal.
“We have two assistant principals and 450 students here; there is no need for that,” Ramirez said. “We don’t need the principal. She doesn’t do anything for our students, our children.”
Ramirez has taken her grievances to several Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) officials, including Regional Director Titus Campos, Executive Director of Region Operations for Region North José Razo, Superintendent of Region North David Baca and Board Member Kelly Gonez. Even after several meetings with them, she said, nothing has changed.
“As a parent group, we are very frustrated,” Ramirez said. “Her supervisor [Campos] … knows about every single complaint that we have here, and he does nothing. All he tells us is, ‘I’m going to look into it. I’m going to investigate.’ But that does nothing for us.”
Displaced Staff and Those At Risk
One of the two teachers who could be displaced is Maria Mancilla, who was the fifth-grade teacher for Ramirez’s daughter. Mrs. Mancilla leads the school’s robotics program and is described by Ramirez as someone who inspires young girls to get interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).
Ramirez told Campos last week that if nothing was done, she and other parents would protest outside the school. Later, she was told that the displacements were put “on hold.”
But for Yesenia Chavez, she’s already been displaced and out of a job since June. She worked for Telfair Elementary for 16 years as a community representative and a supervision representative. She’s interviewed at other schools, including San Fernando High School, but has yet to be hired.
Chavez was told that the school didn’t have enough funding to keep her job. Yet a few months later, the school hired someone else to fill her position. She joined the protest to condemn what she said was an “abuse of power.”
Bullying
Another issue a few parents have had with the school and Gonzalez has been the lack of meaningful action when it comes to instances of bullying. Tanya Zepeda said her daughter, who has since graduated from Telfair Elementary, was being bullied by a classmate.
When the parent went to Gonzalez to tell her what was going on, Zepeda said no action was taken, and the matter wasn’t looked into any further.
“I feel that she doesn’t care about our students and … I just feel like our kids are just being let down,” Zepeda said. “I feel like there’s no leadership there. She hasn’t come out and talked to us, so we just want change for this school.”
For the Loza family, their experience has been far more negative. Magdalena Loza has two sons enrolled in the school, the eldest being in fourth grade. He also has level 2 autism, meaning he needs substantial support to manage daily life, communication and social interactions.
According to Loza, her son was being bullied for months by another student, who responded by shutting down and not communicating. In June, just before summer break, her son reacted by hitting his bully back, which is when Gonzalez finally intervened.
Loza said that Gonzalez brought in school police officers to essentially “interrogate” her then 8-year-old son, and she told him that if he hits another student after he turns 9, then the parents of the other child could press charges against him. When he didn’t respond, the officers started speaking aggressively towards him.
No one from the school notified Loza about what had happened, nor that the school police had spoken to her son. Loza only found out later what happened when she noticed that her son felt uncomfortable going back to school.
“Why wasn’t I notified? … Why did you take it to that level?” Loza demanded to know. She said that she contacted a special education board, which agreed that Gonzalez had taken the matter too far.
“A principal should know how to navigate through this situation,” she continued. “Instead, she took it way too far to intimidate my son, which caused him to start soiling the bed for a week. He had nightmares. That’s what worries me – she does not care about children.”
She added, “Her body language, tone of voice and facial expressions are very dismissive and degrading to the parents. She doesn’t care about the children. That’s what I’m literally seeing from her. She just doesn’t care about parents’ inputs or concerns. She would rather dismiss you and go about her day. She’s just getting a paycheck at this point.”
Loza is now suing the school to ensure her son gets the resources he needs, including a behavior intervention implementation (BII) specialist who can provide one-on-one support – she said the school lacks resources for children with autism. Her court date is Sept. 9.
“I just hope that LAUSD sees this and recognizes that the principal here is very dismissive of parents, disregards them and belittles them anytime she gets, and I hope that they acknowledge our concerns.”
“The first thing I want to see is for the school to remove the principal,” repeated Chavez “The next thing is they bring back the staff that has been displaced. … Hopefully, they can all get their jobs back.”
The San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol reached out to Gonzalez for comment, but she did not respond by press time.