More than a dozen parents took to the podium during public comment Wednesday to speak about a San Juan School teacher who they accused of slapping a student.
“My main concern is my child’s safety,” said Daniel Gonzalez. “She’s still on probation. You got just about every right to get rid of her. There’s no reason she should be in that class.”
As parent after parent took the mic, they calledthe instructor incapable of teaching math, a “bully” and “mean.”
“I’m really concerned about the education of my child this year,” said parent Sofia Lopez in Spanish. “The year has gone and he didn’t learn anything.”
The San Benito County Sheriff’s office took a March 3 report, said Capt. Eric Taylor.
“They did interview the alleged victim who said the allegation is that, when the student wouldn’t stop talking in class, the teacher slapped him one time on the arm without causing injury,” Taylor said.
The report had been filed by an uninvolved third person, Taylor said. The investigation is ongoing, but “it’s up to them if they want to pursue a case,” he said.
Following a spirited public comment at the school board meeting, the trustees and superintendent took a recess. Superintendent Ruben Zepeda spoke with groups of parents during the recess telling them the teacher would not be at school and a substitute would take her place until he could “resolve this problem.”
The superintendent also promised four to five hours of “extra help” during spring break April 6-10 but parent Sofia Lopez found his words not “easy to hear.”
“For you, it’s very easy to say that you’re going to help the children more,” she said in Spanish. “But they’re going to have to sacrifice their vacation.”
Zepeda did not immediately return a call on the matter.
