Parents claim principal mistreated their daughter, 7

The parents of a 7-year-old Ramona Elementary student have filed a claim against Ramona Unified School District, accusing the school principal of jerking their daughter up by her jacket and dragging her on the playground, causing her to feel like she was being choked.

The action follows the school district’s response that it found insufficient evidence to support allegations in the parents’ complaint about Dr. Daniel Paquette in the reported May 21 incident.

“She wasn’t even doing anything, sitting criss-cross applesauce, waiting to go back to the classroom,” said the girl’s mother, Crystal Davila.

Davila said about two days after the incident Paquette was no longer at the school. Carol Tennebaum, a retired Ramona Unified principal, worked as interim principal at Ramona Elementary until the school year ended.

Paquette was to be released as principal at the end of the 2014-15 school year and reassigned to a classroom teaching position — a decision the school board announced after a closed session at its March 5 workshop, with trustees voting 5-0. He is assigned to teach Spanish at Ramona High School and at Mountain Valley Academy when school resumes Aug. 24.

Graeff said he could not comment on the reason for the reassignment due to privacy concerns, but it was done “way before any parent complaint.”

Davila said her daughter, who has an Individualized Education Program because of a speech impediment, said she was pulled up by her jacket to a different spot so fast that she was stumbling over her feet, and then the principal put his hand on her shoulder to push her into a sitting position.

“He left my child in hysterics,” she said.

According to Davila, two other students, who were also lined up at the end of lunch period that day, also reported similar actions by Paquette.

Attorney Dan Gilleon, who is representing the Davilas, said he would be meeting with a parent of one of the other students and there are student and adult witnesses.

“It’s fairly audacious to come out and say there’s no evidence,” said Gilleon.

Dr. Robert Graeff, superintendent of RUSD, said that in the district’s investigation of the complaint they talked to other students and adults who were there on campus.

“We made a thorough investigation of these concerns. We found nothing to corroborate the complaint,” he said.

According to the district’s letter addressing the complaint, during its investigation Paquette said he had observed a couple of students who were not sitting quietly as directed and “guided them with his hand gently nudging them” to a different location.

Davila said the experience has been traumatic for her daughter.

“Now she won’t go to sleep by herself at night. So we’re getting her into counseling,” said Davila.

Gilleon said late last week he had not received a reply from the school district regarding the claim, but plans to sue if the district rejects the claim. The attorney’s letter to the district states that the claimed amount exceeds $10,000 and the claim will be filed as an unlimited civil case.

Graeff said he will share the claim information with the school board and take the appropriate step.

In addition to filing the claim, Davila said she also filed a report with the sheriff’s department, and her daughter and the other two students were interviewed. Davila said she was told that the report is sealed because it involves a juvenile and can only be released by a subpoena from the attorney.

Paquette became principal of Ramona Elementary in August 2013. Graeff said he worked with Paquette about 15 years ago in the Vista Unified School District. He said he was principal of Vista High School at that time and Paquette was assistant principal.