Father: East Bay School District 'Failed' 3rd Grader Blamed For Campus Lockdown
CLAYTON (KPIX 5) – The father of a third grader attending Mount Diablo Elementary School knows his son has major behavior problems, but didn't know it was to the point of disrupting the entire school.
Parents and students at the school said the child was bullying other kids and prompted a lockdown of the campus.
"Breaks our heart to hear those stories. But some of the things we found out this week in those news stories, we were shocked, we didn't know anything about them," said Bob Tranchida, the 8-year-old's father, told KPIX 5.
The family moved to Clayton from Vermont over the summer.
The boy's parents said they gave the Mount Diablo School District an individual education plan for their special needs son, a plan they say worked extremely well in his previous school.
Several weeks into the school year, the parents said the district still hasn't given their son any extra resources.
"They have failed our son, they have failed the community, they have failed these other parents and they have failed these other children," Tranchida said.
About 30 parents have pulled their kids out of the school this week after the principal locked down the campus after the third grader acted out.
Parents also worried about reports of punching, kicking, and biting of the other kids.
"I totally empathize with them wanting their children to be safe," Tranchida said.
The family adopted the boy before he turned three. They said he doesn't have ADD or autism, but suffered from a lot of trauma.
"Beautiful, little wonderful child," Tranchida said. "But he suffered greatly in his early years. He had 11 placements…he had been through 11 foster care homes, bounced around. His mother was a heroin addict, his father was in jail."
They're not asking for sympathy, they just want more pressure on the district to give their son one-on-one help.
The district declined to answer KPIX 5's questions about the lockdown and their resources to children with special needs. KPIX 5 received a letter from the district they sent to parents, saying they are working to keep the school safe.
The parents of the third grader and other upset parents plan to attend the next school board meeting on Monday.