Parents and Students Protest LAUSD's Removal of Miramonte Teachers

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Students outside Miramonte Elementary School held hand-drawn signs calling for the return of their former teachers. They chanted loudly, pumping their posters up and down in the air.

But mostly the morning was punctuated by the sound of agitated parents yelling into megaphones to reach the large crowd gathered at the front of the school. They spoke in Spanish; 60 percent of the students are Latino.

Sally Rivera's two children attend Miramonte. She said the change in staff has led to a lot of questions and doubt among parents.

"Actually I'm confused, because there are new teachers and the students feel very different for their new teachers. And they want the old teachers back," she said.

The new staff hasn't put her at ease about the safety of her children.

"You have to be checking up on your child every time because now you don't even know when to trust nobody in the school," she said.

The teachers' union was also at their school. United Teachers of LA president Warren Fletcher accused the district of not having a plan. And he said they are traumatizing students and parents.

Tom Waldman, the Director of Media and Communications for LAUSD, disputes that. He said Superintendent Deasy thought keeping the teachers at Miramonte during an investigation would be disruptive to the education process.

Waldman said he hopes parents will come around to the district's decision.

"Kids are very adaptable. I think, we think that as time goes on, in the next days and weeks they'll be back in the school and back into learning, and as much as possible the education process will resume to the point it needs to be so that these kids can learn," he said

Waldman said the removed teachers are at a new nearby school that won't open until August. They'll be available for questioning and will work on professional development.

Meanwhile, the district is staffing Miramonte with recently laid-off teachers. They've assured the teacher's union that the original Miramonte teachers will return to their jobs after both the Sheriff's Department and LAUSD's own inquiry are finished.

For now, counselors will be posted in each of the 45 classrooms. The district is calling for a return to normalcy. Whether parents will make peace with the decision or continue to decry the teachers' move remains to be seen.