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Parents and community members have filed complaints alleging that Corona-Norco schools are violating special education laws and are calling on the district to do better by its students.
Over 20 parents brought signs demanding accountability and quality special education to a recent Corona-Norco Unified School District board meeting. Parents alleged that the process for education plans — which all special education students must have — is inconsistent and not equal. They also shared their experiences.
Each special education student in public schools has what’s called an individualized education program. These legally binding documents are customized to a child’s disability and outline educational goals and the services and accommodations that the student will receive.
In a Friday, Feb. 20, statement, Superintendent Dalia Gadelmawla addressed special education parents directly.
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Angela Vanhorn questions the Corona-Norco school board about speaking limits on those addressing special education issues during the Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, meeting in Norco. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
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Angela Vanhorn questions the Corona-Norco school board about speaking limits on those addressing special education issues during the Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, meeting in Norco. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
“I want to be clear: we hear you, and we take your concerns seriously,” Gadelmawla said. “Every student deserves to be appropriately supported, and every family deserves to feel confident in the services their child receives. We are committed to addressing concerns raised by families directly and with urgency.”
The district said it recognizes the need to continuously improve and is addressing its special education procedures to strengthen them and is looking to improve consistency and responsiveness, Gadelmawla said.
“Our goal is partnership,” she said. “We are listening, we are taking action and we remain focused on ensuring every student receives the high-quality support they deserve.”
The district cannot discuss the cases of individual students because of state and federal student privacy laws, district spokesperson Evita Tapia said in a Thursday, Feb. 25, email.
Mystie Hamelin, a district parent and advocate, said at the Tuesday, Feb. 17, meeting that there was a pattern of unprofessional and retaliatory behavior toward parents about the release of their child’s records and parents’ decisions to bring advocates to individual education program meetings.
Records are often out of order or in disarray, Hamelin alleged, adding that that the district has brought attorneys to routine meetings that should be between educators, administrators, parents and others invited by the parent who are familiar with a child’s case.
“As an advocate, I am increasingly seeing (school district) attorneys present at routine IEP meetings that are not even adversarial,” Hamelin said.
When parents bring in an advocate, the district will escalate the situation with an attorney as a “tactical advantage,” Hamelin said.
She also alleged that the district is limiting parents’ rights to participate in their child’s meetings, is delaying meetings and changing the tone. Hamelin called on the district to stop these actions and asked the Corona-Norco school board to look at how attorneys are used.
The comments came at a special meeting at which special education was not on the agenda.
Nineteen complaints have been filed this year against the district over its special education programs, Tapia said in a Thursday, Feb. 19, email.
Corona-Norco Unified has 7,409 special education students — from infants enrolled in preschool programs to 22-year-old students, Tapia wrote.
Families at the meeting were given a total of 20 minutes to discuss the topic, three minutes per speaker. Under California, a school board can give a topic additional time or limit speakers’ time to allow everyone to speak.
Members of the audience pushed for more time, but board President Mary Ybarra did not respond to the request.
Melinda Bossenmeyer, who has a granddaughter at Corona High School, said her granddaughter — who is dyslexic — qualified for an individual plan in second grade.
Tests showed she was gifted, but she was placed in the lowest classes, Bossenmeyer said. She was refused special education services in middle school and forced to change schools to receive those services, Bossenmeyer alleged. She was eventually told she did not qualify for services because of her good grades, Bossenmeyer said.
“Unless she failed, they would not provide her any services,” she said.
Bossenmeyer and her family begged the district to provide her granddaughter with the technology she needed and even offered to buy it. Eventually, Bossenmeyer’s granddaughter received services after her family filed a complaint with the California Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education, she said.
“This is wrong, it is cruel, we put out money for one-to-one with a specialist to help her rather than money into lawyers to fight the district,” Bossenmeyer said.
Oliva Bissell, the grandmother of a graduating senior who has dyslexia, said she did not receive the services to which she was entitled.
The family paid for her granddaughter to have tutoring and buy equipment, Bissell said, adding that may not an option for other families.
“We were able to pay for her services through our family, but there are people in this room who cannot afford it,” Bissell said.
The district has the power and the money to pay for these services, Bissell said. But she alleged that, instead of giving those services, Corona-Norco officials “delay, deny and defend.”
“Please give our kids what they deserve,” Bissell said.
District parent Megan Ortega said support is inconsistent and that staff is not given the proper training or support in the classroom. Equity in education cannot depend on who has the ability to pay, Ortega said.
“Excellence should not be selective, it should not shine in one program and flicker in another,” Ortega said.
Michael Keeney, the father of a fourth grader, said his daughter’s individual education program was started two years ago but has yet to be completed.
What others have experienced is illegal and uncalled for, he said. He alleged that district aides are not qualified to work with special education students and lack the proper training.
“You are ignoring our issues,” Keeney said. “Your failure to act is in breech of your duties.”
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