A Long Beach Unified teacher who was under criminal investigation for allegedly abusing disabled students was allowed to return to the classroom earlier this year without any warning or explanation to parents, according to two mothers with students in his class.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says it launched an investigation into Yaun Has in May after a classroom aide reported witnessing him “overreacting, being very aggressive” with a child, according to Sgt. Joe Ramos with the Special Victims Bureau at the Sheriff’s Department. Later that month, the department received two additional reports of Has being overly rough with students, Ramos said.
Has, who taught a kindergarten and TK special education class at Cleveland Elementary School, disappeared from the classroom around the same time in early May.
The principal sent emails, reviewed by the Post, introducing the substitutes who would be filling in “while Mr. Has is out.” Yet the district did not offer an explanation for Has’ absence, said the two mothers, who asked not to be named to protect their children.
“I thought it was like a family emergency, or he might have gotten hurt,” one said. “I never thought it was this.” (One of the mothers said the school principal eventually told her in September that Has’ absence was due to the child abuse accusations. The district has declined to confirm or deny this.)
At the beginning of the 2026-27 school year, Has returned to the classroom with no explanation, the parents said. Unbeknownst to them, Has was still the subject of a criminal investigation. Less than two weeks later, the Sheriff’s Department and district attorney’s office moved to file charges, and Has again disappeared from the classroom.
This time, parents received an email from the school’s principal saying Has had been placed on administrative leave due to allegations that he had physically abused students the previous school year, according to a copy of the email reviewed by the Post.
The email did not mention that the criminal investigation began in May, explain why Has had disappeared from the classroom the first time or say if administrators knew he was still the subject of a Sheriff’s Department investigation when he returned.
Since then, Long Beach Unified has refused to answer those questions. LBUSD spokesperson Eric Mitchell said in an email last week that Has remains on leave but would not provide further details, saying it’s a confidential personnel matter.
The parents who spoke to the Post said they’re frustrated by the district keeping them in the dark. Many of the disabled students from Has’ class are unable to communicate verbally, so their parents are left to guess what happened.
“My worst fear just came true,” one mother said, adding that LBUSD “took advantage of the fact that they can’t speak. This is why it was hidden for so long.”
Has now faces three misdemeanor counts of child abuse against three different students between Feb. 1 and May 1, according to court documents.
A lawyer for Has said he pleaded not guilty and maintains his innocence.
This is not the first time Has has been accused of mistreating students with disabilities. In 2019, while Has worked as a teacher in Los Angeles Unified, he was named in a civil lawsuit, which alleged that students in his class were forced to urinate in a bucket instead of being allowed to use the restroom. The case was settled for $50,000, according to court records reviewed by the Post. Lawyers representing the plaintiff did not respond to requests for comment, and Has’ criminal defense lawyer declined to comment on the civil case.
Has stopped working for Los Angeles Unified in 2020, according to public payroll records. LAUSD declined to comment on Has’ disciplinary history, the dates of his employment or the circumstances of his departure from the district, citing confidentiality concerning personnel information.
The parent of a child allegedly victimized by Has at Cleveland Elementary questioned why he was hired by LBUSD given the 2019 lawsuit. A spokesperson did not respond to questions about whether administrators were aware of the suit when they hired Has.
The Post filed multiple public records requests in September seeking information about Has and any investigation the district conducted into accusations against him. LBUSD has not responded or released information, violating statutory deadlines under the California Public Records Act.