Satthonge "Tuni" Charenunsouk addressed the Nye County School Board Friday, Oct. 6, to ask that she be allowed back on to the J.G. Johnson Elementary School campus to drop off and pick up her son Mitchell.

Charenunsouk was evicted from the premises the previous Monday by Nye County Sheriff's deputies after she was involved in an altercation with the school principal, Holly Lepisto.

She had gone to the school to drop off Mitchell's lunch. Charenunsouk said she often did this because her son is autistic.

"He eats very slow because he doesn't know how to eat by himself, so I was worried," Charenunsouk explained to the school board.

Charenunsouk said that she had arrived about five minutes later than usual that Monday and was met by Lepisto.

Charenunsouk said Lepisto told her she could not bring Mitchell his lunch, then took the food and told her that she would give it to the boy.

Charenunsouk said she went to the cafeteria and looked in the windows but did not see either the principal or her son. Worried, she went to the school's office and stayed outside because parents are not allowed past that point.

Lepisto came outside and Charenunsouk asked where her son was. Charenunsouk said Lepisto treated her rudely and merely said that her son might have already eaten his lunch.

Charenunsouk did not believe this was possible because of his condition. She and Lepisto then got into a verbal disagreement.

Superintendent Rob Roberts said there were numerous witness statements to the effect that Charenunsouk threatened the principal and that she disrupted the school.

Charenunsouk admitted that she was upset but insisted that she did not threaten the principal or use profanity.

Lepisto called the police and Charenunsouk was told she would be issued a citation for trespassing and disturbing the peace. She was also told by the responding officer that she could not set foot on any school property within Nye County.

Charenunsouk's lawyer said, however, there are no formal charges pending against her.

The day after the initial incident, Charenunsouk was waiting across the street for her son, and after crossing the street halfway, she said, the principal threatened to call the police on her again.

Roberts said the principal has the authority to keep Charenunsouk off of the campus.

He also maintained that Charenunsouk had violated two Nevada statutes that concern trespassing on school property.

Although Charenunsouk is not formally charged with violating these laws, the Nye County School District Parent/Teacher Handbook says the principal has the authority to decide whether a student should be allowed to leave class to confer with any non-school personnel.

Roberts said that while Charenunsouk is not allowed to set foot on school property, she could come up on the driveway to the campus to pick up her son and drop him off. But Charenunsouk is worried that the police will nonetheless be called and arrest her for trespassing.

Janeen Brooker, a friend of Charenunsouk's who lives nearby, and who arrived at the school after the police, told the school board, "The way she was treated was just unbelievable."

Brooker also submitted a psychological evaluation of Charenunsouk's son to the board that stated he was about a year and a half behind his peers in developmental terms and pointed out that no Individual Education Test (IEP) had ever been administered.

Charenunsouk also brought to the meeting a manila envelope with the signatures of 27 other parents covering the back of it, who Charenunsouk said also were unhappy with Lepisto. The informal petition was not submitted to the board, however.

Roberts said that the only calls he receives regarding Lepisto are compliments from parents on what a good job she is doing. He maintains that the Lepisto is correctly following the policies and procedures of the school district.

He also said that Charenunsouk had not provided any documentation proving that her son was autistic until recently, and he insisted that school employees all maintain that the second-grader is a good student, well-mannered, and fully able to eat his lunch and function independently.

Charenunsouk said she has documentation but has not had the opportunity to gather it all together.

She also maintains that her son has continually returned home from school with his lunch uneaten and has began to lose weight.

Charenunsouk said she had a conference with Mitchell's teacher and the old school principal last year, during which she told them her son was autistic. They had her sign a release form for Mitchell's medical records, but she did not hear anything about it afterwards, and no tests were administered.

Mitchell was, however, placed in a speech class which he continues to attend and which Charenunsouk said has helped him.

Charenunsouk said that Director of Special Education Dr. Sam Simatos told her an IEP test would be administrated once all the necessary personnel and paperwork had been gathered, which usually takes about one month. He also offered to speak to school administrators for Charenunsouk. She has once again signed a release form for Mitchell's medical records, some of which she has had difficulty locating.

Roberts said that the school will proceed immediately with developing an individual education program and psychological evaluation for Mitchell.

Hettinger said that if the problem is not resolved shortly, she and other parents are considering staging a public protest against Lepisto.