EASTSIDE : Turmoil Continues at Azteca Head Start

Azteca Head Start classes began Wednesday with teachers and parents circulating petitions for the firing of their director and the reinstatement of the disabled-students administrator.

Parents responded to the firing of Jane Sepulveda, two weeks ago. She came into the Azteca Head Start program as a parent 30 years ago and worked through the ranks as an assistant teacher, head teacher and then special-education coordinator.

Sepulveda said she was told by Victoria Castro, a member of the Azteca board of directors, that her job no longer existed. Sepulveda said she has hired an attorney.

However, Azteca’s executive director, Rosanne Ghiazza, said Sepulveda was not fired but could not elaborate on personnel matters. Azteca does have a special-education coordinator on staff, she said.

“We do have a long, documented process for termination and if we were to terminate someone . . . it would have been in writing,” Ghiazza said.

The controversy comes at a time when teachers have expressed their frustration with Ghiazza’s management and have asked the Azteca board to remove her. The teachers are gathering signatures calling for her dismissal, said Jo Navarro, field representative for the teachers union.

A Monday meeting is planned with the teachers, parents, members of Azteca’s board and representatives from the Los Angeles County Office of Education, which administers federal funds to the program.

Teachers had earlier said that Azteca unfairly docked their wages and tried to prevent them from collecting unemployment benefits, which they typically receive during the summer. Ghiazza has insisted that her office acted properly regarding the teachers’ earnings.

Soccoro Munoz, whose grandson attended the Head Start school last year, complained to Azteca supervisors about poor school conditions and food when parents and teachers told her they were afraid of retaliation, she said. Last week Munoz began contacting parent leaders at different schools to petition for Sepulveda’s reinstatement.

“(Sepulveda is) one of the very, very important parts of this group,” she said. “She’s the one who knows what’s going on with the children who are handicapped.”