Parents speak out about South Valley Academy’s handling of director accused of threatening student

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Monday night, parents, students, and teachers are outraged at how South Valley Academy is handling the incident of a staff member accused of threatening a student with a box cutter. The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office says School Director Richard Perea turned himself in to law enforcement on Monday. Perea is facing aggravated assault and child abuse charges.

At Monday night’s special governing meeting at South Valley Academy, parents were upset at how late they were notified and how little they knew about the situation. Parents claim the school has not been transparent in letting them know about the incident and they say they have had to dig to find information.

Students at SVA spoke out about how unsafe they felt at school when Perea was on campus. “I’m a student at SVA, I would like to address how unsafe I feel at the school…. I always felt unsafe on the very first day at SVA, when the administrator walked into the room,” said the student.

At the meeting parents, students, and teachers questioned why the council has yet to address Perea and things got heated. After the council called for an executive session that lasted more than hour and and a half, the council postponed the conversation until next week with the vice president of the council saying Monday night was a “a listen to the voices” type of meeting.

The meeting was abruptly abruptly adjourned with parents’ questions left unanswered although they did confirm the resignation of Council President Anna Trillo. The next meeting be held on Tuesday, May 14.

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