The Red de Padres por la Seguridad Escolar (The Parents’ Network for School Safety), coordinated by activist and community leader Guillén, was born out of families’ deep commitment to creating learning environments that are truly safe, protected, and free from violence for students.
The Los Angeles parent advocate is pressing for school police, budget transparency and stronger parent participation, especially among immigrant families.
Diana Guillén is a familiar presence at LAUSD school board meetings. Always speaking in Spanish and with facts at her fingertips, she challenges board members, holds them accountable for what happens in classrooms, and calls them out. Her activism has earned her criticism from all sides. “Here comes the troublemaker,” some people say.
Guillén laughs.
“I take those criticisms as compliments. They motivate me to keep going. Social activism is not easy; it requires continuous, persistent work. That is what we need to change things at LAUSD. Many people would like parents to stay quiet, but I believe in the opposite: bringing more parents, especially immigrants, into this fight,” Guillén says.
The Red de Padres por la Seguridad Escolar (The Parents’ Network for School Safety), coordinated by activist and community leader Guillén, was born out of families’ deep commitment to creating learning environments that are truly safe, protected, and free from violence for students. The collective emerged as a direct response to growing concerns within the school community in Southern California. Operating independently, it demands that students’ physical and emotional well-being become the top priority at schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
Under Guillén’s leadership, the organization works actively through community mobilization and direct participation at school board meetings. Guillén serves as the families’ elected representative as president of the Districtwide Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) and the District English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC). The collective strongly advocates for decisive measures to restore peace of mind in classrooms, including reinstating school police, ensuring budget accountability, and implementing effective anti-bullying protocols. For the network, quality education is possible only when a safe space to learn and grow is guaranteed first.
“We keep insisting that school police be present on campuses. Board members have chosen to minimize their role, citing numerous financial problems, but we do not want to stay silent. The incident at Franklin High School must not be ignored. It is as if they were saying, ‘Let a few days pass and people will forget.’ That is not going to happen. We will insist that they respond to this case with practical measures. The death of young Xavier Nungaray exposed the shortcomings of our district when it comes to safety. Regardless of whether he was Latino or not, this question sums it all up: ‘How is it possible for a student to die inside a school?’ What? Are we simply going to remember him for a few days and then do nothing?” says Guillén, who is originally from Mexico City.
The student died on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, at around 1 p.m. at Benjamin Franklin High School, located in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. The 17-year-old student died after falling from a fourth-floor hallway or railing at the school.
Following the incident, videos circulated showing an earlier physical altercation with another student inside a classroom. This sparked outrage in the community and led to strong protests organized by the Parents’ Network for School Safety, whose members denounced the failure to address bullying and demanded greater security throughout the district.
Guillén speaks with passion and clarity. She knows what she is talking about. After years of struggle, she has spent countless hours moving between schools and school board meetings, debating the issues affecting students.
“We have become a voice for immigrant parents who are afraid or lack the information they need to navigate the system. We need more parents united in this fight, but we know these are difficult times. Many have been frightened by news of ICE raids, and that affects us even more. Let’s be honest: immigrants already know what to do when faced with the threat of immigration enforcement. We do not need anyone to tell us or explain it to us. What we need is for these parents to become more aware and get involved. The school board is not working in the interest of education; it is working in its own interests. Its members are busy handing out jobs. At least five board members have relied on UTLA to get where they are. They owe the union; they have commitments to honor. This will not help our children’s education. That is what matters to us, and that is why they get upset,” she adds.
One of the things that angers Guillén most is the lack of transparency at LAUSD.
“They spend many millions of dollars, and there is no transparency. Now they tell us, ‘There is no money for school police.’ That is laughable. Come on, let’s look at how they have spent the money. All they say is that the COVID funds have run out. They are in a tremendous financial crisis, but they have no money, and it seems their motto is: increase teachers’ salaries, hire more staff, and have fewer students.”
For Guillén, the reality facing immigrant students is heartbreaking. They are among those most affected by the lack of resources and often find themselves in schools plagued by shortages and unmet needs.
“I am someone who likes to draw distinctions between white people and Latinos. To say, ‘Poor us.’ Poor us? Not at all. We are incredibly resilient and valuable, and our participation in this society is indispensable. So, no more of this ‘poor us’ attitude. What we are struggling with is fear and a lack of participation. Many parents in our communities settle for whatever they are given, as if they were saying, ‘Well, at least we have this.’ That is what we need to change,” she says.
Guillén does not doubt that people are fed up with conditions at LAUSD, including parents, students, and school employees. But she is also aware that the struggle is driven more by political interests than educational concerns.
“No one on the school board or at UTLA cares about improving children’s grades or students’ academic performance. When they see someone stirring things up, they go and offer them a job, and that person’s protests come to an end. I am not interested in that—not the criticism, not the jobs. I care about children’s education. Society has abandoned them, and we should be ashamed of what is happening. I know social activism is difficult, but right now we have an opportunity to change things.”
Returning to the issue of school safety, Guillén says Xavier’s case was not an isolated incident. They knew that existing conditions were creating the circumstances for something like this to happen.
“We knew we were vulnerable to something like this. Today, students are afraid to go to school. Mothers tell us about it. They say, ‘Diana, my child doesn’t want to go.’ How are we tolerating this? There are drugs in schools. Some kids smoke in the bathrooms. Those who want to behave themselves cannot even go to the bathroom in peace. There are fights, bullying… and LAUSD acts as if nothing is happening. Our school community is living in fear. We know fear is a method of control, and that is what they are doing in our communities,” she adds.
Guillén does not see a positive outlook for the near future. She is convinced that the current conditions at LAUSD are intolerable and that the district lacks the leadership it needs.
“Look, right now I want to speak with school board representative Rocío Rivas, but you cannot talk to her. There is no communication. I have told them, loud and clear: you, LAUSD, are not financially solvent. You cannot even afford to pay the rent. How do you expect to run the district? The best thing that could happen is for the state of California to take control of LAUSD. We have to mobilize and run in the next elections to take the seats of board members who are harming our schools. LAUSD cannot be a battleground. We have a very powerful weapon: we are incredibly resilient, and that is our weapon in this fight. You will keep seeing me at those meetings, speaking Spanish and representing the community. The fight goes on every single day,” she concludes.
