Parents Call For Banning Student From Calabasas Kindergarten Class

CALABASAS (CBS) — Parents have threatened to remove their children from a transitional kindergarten class at Bay Laurel Elementary School in Calabasas if the administration doesn't do something to curb a male student they say is violent.

At least six parents have publicly thrown their support behind banning the child, who was not named. They say the child has regular, violent outbursts that have cleared the classroom three different times.

Parent Linda Babaian, with five parents standing with her, read a letter aloud to the Las Virgines Unified School District on Dec. 6. Babaian said the letter was signed by several other parents who could not make it to the meeting.

"We are here to protect our children from the ongoing violent actions of one student in this class," she said. "Our goal is to stop the physical and emotional damage and to prevent a true tragedy from occurring in our class."

Without giving details of specific incidents, Babaian said that parents volunteering in the classroom have witnessed the child throwing chairs and hitting and kicking the teacher. The child also reportedly pinned down a classmate and pelted him with toys.

"The effect is that one child has been given the power to physically and psychologically abuse the other 20 kids in the class each time he loses control," Babaian said.

Parents either want the student removed from the class or assigned to a full-time supervised aide trained to manage the child's specific behavioral issues.

Several families are considering removing their children from class after the winter session, Babaian said, and a few want to leave the district altogether.

The Journeys kindergarten class is used to help students who might not be ready for a traditional class setting. At the end of the year, children are evaluated on whether they should move into a standard kindergarten class or continue on to first grade.

Assistant Superintendent Mary Schillinger told the Calabasas Acorn she thought the inappropriate behavior was exaggerated. She also said two aides have been trained to help the problem child make the transition into kindergarten.

Bay Laurel Elementary School Principal Susan Wachtel said in an email just one child has been removed from the Journeys program to attend a private program. That family told her they intend to return next year, she said.

The child parents complained about is still a part of the class, Wachtel said.

Las Virgenes Unified School District Superintendent Donald Zimring said that, to his knowledge, there have been no further complaints about the child's behavior.