Former Stepping Stones employees speak out over misconduct
Storey Lantry Chavira was protesting outside Stepping Stones Learning Center in Palm Springs. Her 13-year-old son claims an employee locked him in a room and beat him following a verbal argument.
“We’re being flooded with others coming forward with past incidents, with other children, with other staff members,” Chavira said.
Read: PSPD investigating alleged assault of student by a staff member at learning center in Palm Springs
Former staff members like Stephanie Heiser and Katherine Butterfield have petitioned against the school’s operation on several occasions. The two worked at Stepping Stones while it was operating as a charter school in 2014.
“He tried to get a charter with anybody he could and it was a charter mill,” Butterfield said.
The center has a long history of operating under different agencies. The California Charter Schools Association said the center is currently not a charter school, contrary to Chavira’s understanding when enrolling her children in the program. On Stepping Stones’ website, it claims to work ‘in cooperation’ with several charter schools, but we have yet to find out which charter schools Stepping Stones is contracted with.
According to the California Department of Education, no affidavit was found.
The most recent documentation found on the center was in 2017 when Stepping Stones filed an appeal with the county to operate as a charter school under Palm Springs Unified School District. The appeal was denied in 2017 and 2016 after the board of PSUSD deemed Stepping Stones as an unsound educational program. Heiser and Butterfield petitioned against the approval.
“He shouldn’t be allowed to be in public education. He shouldn’t receive one cent of public education money because he refuses to adhere to ed code,” said
In 2015, Stepping Stones petitioned to operate as a charter school through pathways of success in San Bernardino City Unified School District but was denied after the board of education also deemed Stepping Stones as an unsound educational program.
The California Department of Education said the facility was run as a private school in 2014.
In 2013, Stepping Stones operated under National University, which was authorized by Lakeside Unified School District in San Diego. The physical center was in Cathedral City. We have yet to hear back from National University, but according to Heiser, she filed misconduct complaints against the accused employee in question now.
“I made several reports to CPS and to the state department of education,” Heiser said.
And so did Butterfield.
“I couldn’t get the administrators with National University to understand we have to be in compliance with ed code,” Butterfield said.
The oldest documentation we’ve found on the center is in 2010 when it operated as a private school for one year, according to the California Department of Education. Although we have reports of the school operating dating back to at least 2005.
A former employee who used to work at Stepping Stones told KESQ & CBS Local the center also tried to operate under the Coachella Valley Unified School District and Desert Sands Unified School District, neither giving Stepping Stones the approval.
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