Archdiocese of Los Angeles
I have been very unsuccessful in my efforts to contact you, but I can't stop until you grant me a meeting. I know that you care about the schools that you overlook, but more importantly the families and our beautiful children. I know that you would want to know and listen to both sides of the story before a final decision is made. This is where my feelings of urgency are stemming from. My son was treated unfairly and cruelly, as a result he is at home deeply depressed and feeling defeated without a single clue as to what led him there. I would like to recount the events that led to my son's "withdrawal" as well as the events that followed after that.
On Wednesday, March 8th I was repeatedly contacted by the principal, Mrs. Monaco, regarding a STEP Meeting which had been postponed several times throughout the year. I was alarmed by her insistent behavior, and I changed my meetings around so that I could attend. This was a last-minute plan, I try to schedule everything in advance due to my hectic schedule. Little did I know that we were not meeting to discuss my son's plan of action to help him be more successful as a student, but it was to dismiss him--discard him---from a school we have grown to love and trust. The reason was that due to his "behavioral issues" the teacher, principal and pastor made this drastic decision.
I went back and made a note of all the correspondence between me, the teacher and principal and nowhere did it state that an incident or a series of incidents would lead to that type of decision. In fact, my son only served one detention and that was back in October of last year. Jaden didn't ever get another detention or even a suspension. Isn't there supposed to be a method or a series of steps that must be taken before "withdrawing" a student? And if this was a consequence, they felt was right for my child, why wasn't it communicated with me? Even as of today, I have yet to get a formal document stating what happened to my son and the reasoning behind it.
My son has been through a lot of trauma and pain this year. He has been really sensitive, and he tends to shut down when he gets frustrated, tired and overwhelmed. The loss of his grandmother early in the year and recently the loss of two more relatives within weeks of each other this month, have deeply affected him and we are working through his feelings, not just at home, but professionally.
At the start of the year, Mrs. Monaco had several stipulations: get him a one on one tutor, have him see the school counselor and/or a private counselor, follow through at home with any consequences or incidents that are communicated to me by his teacher etc. We signed that contract and we met every single one of her requests. Why can she follow through and follow with her word of keeping him at DLS for the year? We only had two months to go and we were happy to look for another school, but, like I mentioned before, this was a rash and impulsive decision.
We also made the time to meet with Father Ramon. He explained that Jaden's teacher was too overwhelmed to continue to have him in her classroom. Again, Archdiocese how is that fair? He also shared that they asked the other 4th grade teacher if she would accept him in her class and that she adamantly refused. Since when are teachers allowed to accept students in their classrooms as if they were administrators? It seems illogical, unfair, and biased. All matters that I want to avoid taking to court, I am planning on pursuing if I am not heard by all the people involved.
Father ended our meeting by saying that he would agree to let Jaden finish the school year and his tutor, Mrs. Mares, would be the liaison between us and the school. I wasn't completely happy with this decision, but at least, in that moment, I felt that Father actually cared about Jaden and was at least trying to meet us halfway. Only to hear back from Father this past Friday to tell me that after a phone call with you, he was told that his promise of letting Jaden finish the year, had been revoked that Jaden's official last day of school would be this Friday, March 24th. Archdiocese again, I don't understand how that is what is best for my 10 year old. He deserves better treatment from all of us. This is wrong.
Archdiocese, I am ready and willing to do whatever it takes to make this right with his teacher and principal. I just want to be treated fairly. I still feel that my son deserves the opportunity to finish the school year. Would you be willing to call me so that we can talk over a better plan of action. I have been looking for another school, in case we can't resolve our issues at De La Salle, but I haven't been able to. I would appreciate your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Mr. Yu and Mrs. Yu parents of Jesnin Jaden Yu of St. John Baptist de Lasalle
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