Parents
claim French teacher derelict in duties
by
Brian DiTullio
DVUSD
– A Boulder Creek High School student’s parents are threatening
to go to the state attorney general’s office if a teacher’s
conduct is not addressed.
Tom
Ventrone went before the Deer Valley Unified School District
governing board March 27 to complain about his daughter’s
French teacher at Boulder Creek.
He
alleged the teacher is frequently absent from class and
that none of those students will be prepared for next
year’s French class because they’re not learning the language.
Ventrone’s
wife, Viviana, said the couple’s daughter tells her the
class frequently has a substitute teacher and spends a
lot of time watching movies, but not French‑language
films, and that it appears there are no lesson plans prepared
for the substitute.
The
Ventrones weren’t the only parents to complain. During
call to the public, others spoke of alleged inappropriate
behavior on the part of the French teacher.
The
Ventrones said they have gone through the chain of command
at the school and district levels, and that if the governing
board doesn’t do something to address this problem, they
will go to the attorney general next.
Viviana
also stated she now is thinking of pulling her daughter
out of the school district and putting her in a private
school.
“I’m
looking for other options now, and it’s sad,” she said.
Board
member Christy Agosta directed Superintendent Dr. Virginia
McElyea to look into the complaints.
On
Thursday, DVUSD Public Information Officer Sandi Hicks
said this isn’t the first time the district has received
complaints about the French teacher and that the district
is gathering information on the matter.
“We
have taken some action,” said Hicks. “We want to make
sure we do the right thing for the
kids.”
The
Ventrones don’t believe the district has done enough,
though, and claim the problems at Boulder Creek go beyond
the French class.
“There’s
a lot of fights on campus, and that’s really dangerous.
They’re keeping it quiet. It’s a shame,” said Tom Ventrone,
indicating his daughter’s biggest complaint is that she
isn’t receiving a proper education. “The good students
who really want to go to school to learn are really getting
a hard time. The principal doesn’t really have control
of the school.”
