Complaint Review: Gina Stutzel

Back in February of 2014, a Kindergartner accidentally brought a blunt butter knife to school in his pocket. (He was used to seeing his father carry a pocket knife for use around the house and copied him with no intention harming others). 

The butter knife stayed in his pocket the whole time (until his teacher Mrs Victoria Bergeson removed it -another student saw the handle sticking out), he never threatened anyone, had never been in trouble before, and was a good student. 

However, Soleado Elementary's new Principal (Gina Stutzel aka Gina Moses) in Rancho Palos Verdes, California (who started recently and perhaps felt a little inferior compared to other Prinicpals in the district -as she had graduated from Cal State Dominguez Hills and started off in the district as a PE Aide) took it upon herself to go berserk and irresponsibly blow things out of proportion by lying and misrepresenting the actual truth -while psychologically traumatizing the child and his entire family for the rest of their lives.

Summary:

1. The Principal (Gina Stutzel) did not follow proper procedures. She held and interrogated the Kindergartner on his own for almost two hours with no parent or advocate present causing long term trauma. To this day (2017), the child can no longer look a teacher in the eyes and will not speak at school. 

2. The Principal (Gina Stutzel) filed a false suspension report. She stated on the student's permanent record that the Kindergartner had "brought a kitchen knife to school to kill people" while unnecessarily (and incorrectly) portraying him as a disturbed psychopath that "likes to play call of duty." 

3. The Principal (Gina Stutzel) was disrespectful to the parent. The School Secretary called the father and requested that the son be picked up from school as he had been suspended, on arrival Gina Stutzel did not address the parent, but instead instructed the school secretary (Rhonda Yacobucci) to close the door "as she wasn't done yet." 

4. The Principal (Gina Stutzel) behaved unprofessionally and made unncecessary threats which caused long term emotional and mental trauma. The father calmly waited for a few minutes outside, but then politely knocked and opened the door. The Principal, Gina Stutzel, stormed across the room and screamed at the father to "Leave! Otherwise I'll have your son taken away and you will never see him again!"

5. The Principal (Gina Stutzel) hid evidence from other school employees. The father stated that he thought she was "blowing things out of proportion" as the child was in Kindergarten and didn't threaten or hurt anyone. It was a simple mistake by a child. She retaliated by lying in front of the School Secretary (Rhonda Yacobucci) and two school psychologists by accusing the child of bringing a "six inch kitchen knife to school to kill people!" When asked by the father to produce the "kitchen knife" the Principal stated that she could not find it, yet later it was revealed that the butter knife was in her desk the whole time and only the child's teacher (Victoria Bergeson) and her saw it. 

6. The Principal (Gina Stutzel) misused Public services as a means of intimidation when they were not needed. After not being able to produce the "six inch kitchen knife," the Principal (Gina Stutzel) screamed at the father to leave the room and she demanded that the School Secretary call 911 (to which she complied reluctantly). By the time the Sheriffs showed up, the father had joined the Principal in her office (where she handed him the blunt butter knife) he explained how such a mistake could have occurred, apologized for the incident and was led to believe things were good by her -how wrong he was! (She waved off the Sheriffs without even greeting them or making eye contact when they arrived -as it was simply an empty threat). 

7. The Principal (Gina Stutzel) filed a false child services report. After the father left with his son, a few hours later the Principal pulled the older brother who was in 3rd grade out of class and held him on his own while coercing false information. She told him "you're not leaving this room unless you tell me what I want to hear!" After almost two hours and forcing him to miss lunch; hungry, tired and intimidated -he eventually made things up just so he could leave. She twisted this information into unimaginable horrific accusations of beatings which never occurred and made a false report to CPS. That evening 6 police officers and Child Protective Services showed up, the parents cooperated fully on the spot, allowing them to come in their home while they were having dinner and inspect the home as well as the children for bruises. Everything was fine, so the case was closed -but in the report, the Principal also falsely accused the father of kicking her door in and threatening her with a switchblade knife (which was also made part of his son's permanent record through her filing with the Southbay Behavioral Health Care Services). 

8. The Principal (Gina Stutzel) deliberately made the school a hostile environment for the family. She instructed the child's Kindergarten teacher not to speak with either parent (Victoria Bergeson would turn her back to them when they came to pick up their son at school after the incident) and if the parents tried to approach her other school staff would rudely and aggressively tell them to leave. It was later revealed by Victoria Bergeson that the Principal (Gina Stutzel) instructed them to do so. 

9. The Principal (Gina Stutzel) requested that the parents sign a psychological waiver. She requested that the parents sign   a Psychological waiver that she created if the child was to stay in school. It basically allowed her to do what she wanted while he was in school, including medicate him. 

10. The Principal (Gina Stutzel) destructively branded a Kindergartner with an unfair and misleading record that he has to carry for the rest of his life. Every school that he has attended since, the whole family has to endure this unfair judgement and there is no way to voice their side of it.  

Aftermath:

The father made a complaint to the Palos Verdes School Board which referred him to John Bowes the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources for the Palos Verdes School District (who is as of 2017 is Superintendent of the Davis School District).

John Bowes ignored the father for several months and requested that he write multiple letters outlining his greviances. Eventually the father became upset, as in a meeting he realized that John Bowes had not read a single letter and he had to continuously remind him of what happened; plus he grew tired of the School District dragging things out for months -so he decided to create a website, tell his side of the story and emailed every parent in the PTA the link. Within minutes, he received a threat from the real Superintendent of the PV School District (Walker Williams -who has since retired) which threatened legal action unless the father basically "shut up." (After this, Gina Stutzel suddenly created a twitter account so she could portray herself as a "kind" person -which she is most definitely not!)

All the father wanted was a fair and factual permanent record for his son and an apology from the Principal (Gina Stutzel).

The family got neither, so they sold their home (in which the father had recently personally designed and remodelled two brand new bedrooms for his children) and the family moved several times over the last couple of years. 

Prior to this incident, the previous Principal of Soleado Elementary (Kevin Allen -who moved on to work in Beverly Hills) was absolutely wonderful. He was truly kind, respectful, as well as really caring about the futures and wellbeing of the students -as demonstrated by his behavior. The family had a wonderful 5 years in Palos Verdes before Gina Stutzel psychologically, mentally and financially destroyed this young, innocent, naive family with her lies. 

The family had to start all over again multiple times at great expense while dealing with new cities, trying to make new friends, and finding new jobs. The experience was so traumatic that all members of the family sunk into deep depression. The father who used to plan family outings every weekend stopped doing so, he stopped taking photos of the children. He lost all interest in things. The children became introverted. They stopped smiling for over a year. 

The children have endured incredible hardships, racism and bullying in new schools, changed schools several times ... it has not been easy. 

The family all have PTSD from this horrible experience while Gina Stutzel and the Palos Verdes School District carries on as usual.

Gina Stutzel abused her position of trust, acted irresponsibly, and damningly branded this innocent child for life -and other parents have to know.