First let me say how very disappointed and extremely angry I am with how Lincoln Middle School has handled this situation [the Thomas Beltran case]. The meeting [May 7] was a joke. No apology was made. No one accepted any responsibility. No new information was given. Lincoln parents were not allowed to speak directly with those who should be held accountable for the system (or lack thereof) breaking down. Instead, we were allowed to write our concerns on 3×5 cards that were collected in a cute little basket. No real solutions were put forward. No explanations were given how our innocent children were irreparably harmed by this teacher. All I heard was a lot of politically correct, fluffy, feel good stuff.
The school superintendent, Lincoln administrators and school security have failed to protect our children. They all need to be held accountable. They work for us as taxpayers and need to answer to us, and so far their explanations are far from satisfactory. They all need to first apologize to the Lincoln school community for failing to protect our children and we should all demand that they do so.
They also need to immediately disclose more information to Lincoln parents and the expanded Santa Monica School district. In what other capacities has this teacher been in contact with children, including the most recent Astrocamp trip with Roosevelt Elementary school kids that he attended.
The SMPD, the DA’s office and the Lincoln administration also need to aggressively contact former students from the previous 20 years at Lincoln in a continuing effort to find more victims.
The Lincoln administration also needs to immediately put forward an aggressive multi-step plan to prevent this from ever happening again. Another public meeting also needs to be held as soon as possible when a comprehensive and updated safety plan has been put together by the administration where the parents may also express their opinions openly and freely.
All of you should stand up and have a voice for our children. This is not about protecting the reputation of Lincoln or making sure the school or district administration stays in tact and gets back to normal as soon as possible. This is about our kids and the shameful fact that our kids were not protected by those we trusted.
Karl Preston Rumburg