Parents Scramble as Pacific Oaks Turns Away Enrolled Students

Dozens of Pasadena-area families are scrambling this morning to find a school for their child after Pacific Oaks Children’s School announced it can no longer accommodate their children.

The school announced it can no longer accommodate 44 enrolled students, cut off some programs and relieved several teachers a few days before the opening of classes.

The state’s license of Pacific Oaks limits its student population to 77, but its enrollment last year reached around 140. Reports also said the school has been operating over its capacity for years.

The school applied for an increase in capacity to the state Department of Social Services, but was denied in July due to alleged safety violations, prompting the school to cut the number of students, programs and teachers before the school starts.

“We were expecting to have this be a routine process,” Pacific Oaks President Ezat Parnia told the Los Angeles Times. Parnia added that the Department gave no indication that the request will be denied.

Pacific Oaks laid off four teachers based on seniority, eliminated two staff positions and closed down its two full-time and one part-time programs, Parnia told the newspaper.

Parnia added that the closure of full-time programs was done to affect the least number of students and teachers.

The Department’s letter stated that the school has failed to provide satisfactory evidence that it could adhere to the licensing requirements by state law, the Times reported.

The 68-year-old school was cited in the past for its failure to report an injury of a child, withholding information about the child’s injury, and failure to give proper care and supervision to its students.

Saturday, a group of angry parents whose children were dropped faced the new interim director of the school at a meeting is South Pasadena organized by State Senator Carol Liu.

“Nobody is helping us,” one parent said in the dialogue.

Parents said that they were notified via email about losing the guaranteed spot for their children.

“I believe this is a social equity issue. The programs that were closed were for full time working families … it was also the most diverse families,” said Sandra Chen-Lau, a parent.