The dean of UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies oversaw the university’s Early Care and Education program through five years that included funding cuts and the arrest of a teacher for child sexual abuse.

Now, UCLA is deciding whether or not to extend her tenure as dean for another five years – and some former ECE parents believe they deserve a say in the decision.

A former ECE parent said they believed Dean Christina Christie’s administration failed to properly oversee UCLA’s childcare and K-12 programs. Parent A, who was granted anonymity to protect their child’s identity, added that they told Christie’s five-year review committee the same thing when asked to give input from their perspective as a UCLA faculty member.

Their child was taught by Christopher Rodriguez, a former employee who was convicted last year of sexually abusing children under his care, Parent A said.

[Related: ECE parents say UCLA isn’t updating them on ex-teacher convicted of sexual abuse]

Rodriguez was sentenced to seven years in jail last summer, but failed to show up in court while attempting to appeal his conviction. A lawyer who represented Rodriguez did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his current whereabouts.

Parent A said they believed improper oversight and a lack of transparency from leadership contributed to the conditions that allowed Rodriguez’s abuse to take place.

Three ECE employees were also dismissed in early 2025. An ECE teacher alleged to the Daily Bruin last March that the firings were for child abuse, though a UCLA spokesperson declined to comment on the reason for the terminations.

ECE announced April 16 that it would eliminate its food service program and stop providing formula and diapers starting July 1 to cut costs amid UCLA’s budget deficit. However, ECE reversed the decision April 26 after parents protested the decision in front of Chancellor Julio Frenk’s house.

[Related: UCLA Early Care and Education admin announce reinstated food, formula programs]

Parent A said they were able to contribute their opinion to the review as a member of the Academic Senate, but realized that other ECE parents – including UCLA students, staff and faculty in other departments – would not have the same opportunity. Under UCLA’s Academic Personnel Manual, school deans are reappointed by the chancellor following a committee’s review and consultation with Senate members – historically those from departments overseen by the dean.

“They need to allow us to play a role in this process – there needs to be a report, a discussion,” said Parent B, who was also granted anonymity to protect their child’s identity. “A five-year review needs to be holistic and 360, and without including these voices it is doing a disservice, and it’s not an accurate representation of what a holistic review needs to be.”

Ed&IS contains two academic departments – the department of education and the department of information studies – in addition to overseeing childcare and K-12 education programs that fall under the university.

Despite being an Ed&IS faculty member for years, Parent A said they never heard concerns about ECE discussed or acknowledged in meetings. They added that they believe many of their colleagues and fellow parents weren’t fully aware of the program’s relationship to the school.

Parent B, a former faculty member whose child was also in Rodriguez’s class, said they were not aware ECE was part of the Ed&IS portfolio when their child was enrolled.

Parent B added that when they asked ECE leadership about how to escalate concerns they had with the program, they were still never told it fell under the school.

Christie laid out information about the program’s structure – including how ECE, the UCLA Lab School and Geffen Academy all belong to the UCLA Consortium of Schools, whose leaders in turn report to the Ed&IS dean – in a 2023 message to community members. No other information about the consortium or its structure was directly accessible from the ECE website homepage as of May 5.

The Ed&IS website includes a page for the associate dean of university partnership schools, however, it contains no information on the consortium or what its systems of leadership and accountability currently look like.

Parent A said they believe UCLA’s administration is following APM policies with integrity, but that the structure of Ed&IS – and the fact that most ECE parents are not Ed&IS Senate members – mean that the review warrants an adjusted approach.

Former ECE parents are now putting together a petition calling on UCLA to let them contribute to the review, Parent B added. UCLA Media Relations did not respond in time to a request for comment on the parents’ requests.

Parent A said they ultimately reached out to the office of Michael Levine, UCLA’s vice chancellor for academic affairs and personnel. According to an email obtained by the Daily Bruin they were told they could speak with the Academic Affairs and Personnel Office – but that their meeting would not affect the progression of the official five-year review.

Parent A said the situation led them to believe UCLA should move ECE out of Ed&IS’s purview and put together an independent oversight committee to monitor the program.

Neither Christie nor her office responded to multiple requests for comment.

“The current leadership – they don’t know how to do it,” Parent A said. “We’re setting ourselves up for another scandal down the road that’s going to cost UCLA more.”