Parents in the Mt. Diablo School District say they're shocked and angry by a video posted on social media showing two administrators from College Park High School in Pleasant Hill making inappropriate remarks about students.
The video was taken last year but was recently shared anonymously in a parent social media group.
The video shows two College Park vice principals making disparaging remarks about students, including special education, or SPED, kids.
“I think some of them are SPED too but we won’t ever be able to get rid of them. You know what? Not your problem, not your monkey, not your circus,” the teachers say in the video.
A mother of a College Park special education student, who didn’t want to be identified, said she’s appalled.
“It's very hurtful and very emotional,” she said. “What was very disturbing was the fact that they were making fun of special ed children. Another statement, which I found really offensive, was ‘monkeys in a circus’ so referring to our children as monkeys in a circus.”
The Mt. Diablo Unified School District’s superintendent agrees the remarks are disturbing. He said a formal investigation is underway and insists the district is 100% committed to supporting students with special needs.
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“We are going to use this as an opportunity to retrain, to look at our processes and procedures, and to continue to work on our mindset on how we work with students who may be different than what we are,” said Dr. Adam Clark.
One of the women in the video was recently named principal of Diablo View Middle School, something a mother hopes the district rethinks.
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“With those kind of point of views and that mentality, they don’t belong in an educational system, where there are children who do need help,” she said.
The superintendent said they take the matter very seriously and in cases of employee misconduct, anything from a letter of reprimand to dismissal could take place.
NBC Bay Area tried to reach out to both of the women in the video. One of them said over the phone that neither of them can comment.
