Morgan Hill police arrested a 27-year-old Hollister man and
long-term substitute teacher at Britton Middle School Tuesday on
charges of lewd or lascivious acts with a child and annoying or
molesting a child.
Morgan Hill police arrested a 27-year-old Hollister man and long-term substitute teacher at Britton Middle School Tuesday on charges of lewd or lascivious acts with a child and annoying or molesting a child.
Tras Berg had been substituting as a science teacher on a long-term basis for an injured teacher.
Police said the incident was brought to their attention by a student who had received E-mails, handwritten and typed letters, poems and phone calls at home from Berg.
“I really couldn’t comment on this because it is a personnel situation,” school Superintendent Carolyn McKennan said this morning. “Needless to say, this is extremely important to us. We will not be conducting an investigation; we rely on the police department to discover what the situation is. I trust their expertise in this area.”
Berg was booked into Santa Clara County Jail. Acting Morgan Hill Police Sgt. Troy Hoefling said Berg was released Wednesday after posting $25,000 bail. Berg is scheduled to appear in Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Martin on Jan. 7.
McKennan said Berg substituted, also on a long-term basis but for a shorter time, at Live Oak High School at the beginning of the 2001-2002 school year.
McKennan said she had no further information at that time on Berg. The district office is closed for the holidays.
“We’ll be in the office Monday, along with Principal Jim McDonald and the assistant principals, to determine what we need to do,” she said. “The greatest concern is obviously the students. We need to line up a replacement sub and determine what steps we need to take to help students. The timing, because it happened over the break, gives us a few days to make some decisions.”
Students return to class on Jan. 6.
McDonald, reached by cell phone while on vacation, said he did not have many details, having received a call from Police Chief Jerry Galvin Tuesday evening.
“Not very good news for Christmas Eve,” he said. “I’m actually coming back tomorrow (Friday) morning, and we’ll begin making plans. We will follow the police investigation closely, and do what is appropriate to assist the student, the family and our other students.”
