Having two very disturbing school incidents close together in
Gilroy is rather arresting.
Having two very disturbing school incidents close together in Gilroy is rather arresting.
First, there is the investigation into the Gilroy High teacher who is accused of pushing and slapping students.
Then, there is the case of a 10-year-old student at Eliot School who fired a plastic pellet gun in class and grazed the teacher with a plastic bullet. The gun had previously been confiscated at school and someone rifled the principal’s office to retrieve it.
It’s hard to imagine the mindset – even of one so young – that decides to bring any type of gun into a classroom and fire it. It’s just so clearly far off the mark in terms of acceptable behavior that we hope the district takes a long and serious look at expulsion.
Serious consequences now might prevent something exponentially more serious in the future.
With a 10-year-old it’s a delicate matter, indeed, finding the right mixture of compassion and consequences to make the right judgment.
For the accused Gilroy High teacher, it’s difficult to imagine a happy ending. Once, the Gilroy Police Department decides to forward the matter to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office then the process becomes infinitely more complex even if the teacher is never prosecuted.
Some commenting on our Web site have suggested that the students making the claims are just out to get a teacher who made everyone toe the line. Others say it would be unlikely that false allegations against the teacher would get to this point.
If the allegations are clearly false in the investigation, then the students who brought those serious charges should face dire consequences. If that’s the case, no teacher in the school district should have to teach them. They are louts devoid of character.
If the accusations are verifiable by credible witnesses, clearly the teacher should be dismissed and the district attorney should prosecute as appropriate. There is no room for abuse from a teacher.
There is, of course, a middle ground where veracity is unclear. That leaves the school district and the teacher in very tough positions, wherein judgment will be key.
