Parents were furious and Claremont police were investigating claims of students being forced to mingle with topless men and drunken adults at a private holiday party Saturday.
At a special session of the Claremont Unified School District Board of Education, parents called for the resignation of board president Steven Llanusa, who was noticeably absent Friday.
"The CHS chamber singers present on Saturday evening were subjected to an environment that broke countless district and ED code rules at the invitation of a school board member. Sadly, there is no apology that can help our kids un-see or un-feel the events that took place in his home," said parent Sabrina Ho via Zoom.
The district and Claremont police are investigating allegations of misconduct after Claremont High School choir students said they were forced to mingle with topless men and drunken adults at Llanusa’s private holiday party at his home Saturday night.
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Some of the men can be seen with the adults in a photo, which has been shared among parents.
Gabriel Lozano says his daughter was one of more than a dozen choir students who were hired to perform at the party.
Lozano says the students were told to arrive early, but were forced to wait longer than expected.
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"Were any other school board members present? Will Llanusa do the only right thing he can do and that is resign immediately?" Lozano said. "They were immediately shuffled into the garage and told that it wasn’t going to be for an hour, to which they were encouraged, highly encouraged, by half-naked men and the adults there, Llanusa included, to mingle with these people."
Lozano says that’s when his daughter and others were then offered alcohol.
"They were offered an open bar. They were offered an open bar and to socialize with the half-naked men, the 'dirty Santa,' who made disgusting comments to our children," he said.
After public comment, the school board went into closed session.
Parents like Lozano say they’re left with too many unanswered questions and say Llanusa needs to resign immediately.
NBCLA has reached out to Llanusa directly, but have yet to hear back.
"The worst thing ever, coming off a bad couple of years for COVID, being isolated from friends, senior year, a lot of hard work, innocent victims, just...the most horrible thing," Lozano said.
The Claremont Unified School District released the following statement regarding the story:
"The District was notified of allegations of inappropriate conduct by adults toward a few of our high school choir students who were performing at an off-site, private party last Saturday evening, and law enforcement and the District are currently investigating the matter. I assure our school community that we are taking these allegations extremely seriously, which prompted us to immediately engage the Claremont Police Department who is now actively investigating this concerning situation. The District and school administration have taken steps to support and protect our students directly impacted by this incident, and we will continue to provide necessary supports. Additionally, we have been in touch with the students’ families to ensure they are aware of our actions to investigate the matter. Our paramount priority is to provide a safe and stable environment for all our students to learn and participate in extracurricular activities, and to this point, I want the Claremont school community to be assured that we will not condone any inappropriate behavior by adults toward our students."
