The president of a California school district board resigned after being accused of having a group of students perform at a private party that allegedly included a “dirty Santa,” shirtless performers, and an open bar.
Steven Llanusa, the president of Claremont Unified School District, turned in a letter of resignation on Saturday, PEOPLE confirms. His resignation took place shortly after a group of parents complained about the Dec. 3 party during a board meeting, according toThe Los Angeles Times.
During the meeting, parents said members of the Claremont High School choir program were exposed to inappropriate behavior at Llanusa’s home, where they performed to raise money for the program, the newspaper reported.
“Mr. Llanusainvited the high school choir group into his private adult partyin his home,” parent Sabrina Ho said at Friday’s meeting, according to CBS Los Angeles, claiming the students arrived about an hour before the performance.
Images shared with CBS Los Angeles and NBC News showed shirtless performers wearing holiday attire while posing for photos.
During the meeting, parents commended their children for behaving responsibly.
“My daughter is choir president and she (and others) stepped in andacted like the adults that night,” said Nicole Ouellette, according toThe Press-Enterprise.
Llanusa did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Steven Llanusa.CLAREMONT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
In a statement to the Claremont Unified community sent on Friday, board members said they met “with legal counsel” to “review the allegations concerning the private party that our high school choir students were invited to perform at last weekend.”
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Noting that they could not require Llanusa to resign, officials wrote that they “encourage him to do so in order to begin the process of healing and returning our focus to students and their well-being.”
According to Kathy Archer, the vice president of the board, no other current or former board members were in attendance, perThe Los Angeles Times.
In a statement last week, Claremont Unified Superintendent Jim Elsasser assured the community “that we are taking these allegations extremely seriously.”
The Claremont Police Department, which did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment, toldThe Los Angeles Timesthat an investigation had been opened, but declined to share additional information.
In a follow-up message, sent to the school community on Saturday, Elsasser said Llanusa’s resignation was “effective immediately.”
“In the very near future, the Board of Trustees will discuss the next steps for filling this vacant position,” added the official.
source: people.com
