GILROY
– The Gilroy Police Department is filing a felony report with
the District Attorney’s office against a Gilroy High School special
education teacher for allegedly threatening one of his freshman
students.
GILROY – The Gilroy Police Department is filing a felony report with the District Attorney’s office against a Gilroy High School special education teacher for allegedly threatening one of his freshman students.
The student, who remains unnamed because he is a minor, claims that on Nov. 18, during a heated confrontation in class, teacher Tim Ossowski called him “an idiot” and threatened him by saying, “If I had a gun, I’d shoot you,” according to the student’s mother, Carmen Munoz.
“If my son threatened a teacher, you would assume he’d get expelled or suspended from the school district,” said Munoz, whose last name is different from her son’s. “There’s no tolerance for this behavior from students. Why is it not the same for a teacher?”
Ossowski firmly denied the allegations but declined to comment further for this story. He has neither been arrested nor charged.
District officials are also keeping quiet on the matter, at least for now. Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Linda Piceno said the district cannot comment on the incident since it is a personnel issue and is still being investigated by the district. GHS Principal Bob Bravo also declined to comment on the matter in any detail but confirmed that Ossowski is new to his staff this year and was hired from outside the Gilroy Unified School District.
Ossowski is still teaching special education at the high school, but Munoz has pulled her son out of his class. Her son battles general learning disabilities and needs one-on-one attention and specially structured curriculum in order to be successful at school, Munoz said.
Officer Mike Terasaki, the GPD’s school resource officer who took the complaint early this month, said the district attorney’s office will review the case to determine if there is enough evidence to send the matter to court. Terasaki called the process “routine” in cases involving a threat by an adult on a child.
The GPD would not release the incident report nor the penal code associated with the alleged crime before deadline. It remains unclear what penalty Ossowski would serve if the matter goes to court and he is found guilty.
Once the case is reviewed, the DA could press felony or misdemeanor charges against Ossowski for threatening a child or drop the case altogether due to a lack of evidence.
Munoz said her aim is to see that Ossowski is removed from the district.
“I don’t trust him. If he can say something like this, how low can he go?” Munoz said.
Munoz says she and Ossowski have talked since the incident. On Dec. 11, Ossowski, Munoz and high school and district officials met to discuss the student’s individual education plan – a document written by the parent and the school that details goals for a special education student and specific methods used to reach those goals.
After that meeting, Munoz says the teacher apologized for “embarrassing” himself and the school.
“I’m not satisfied with that,” Munoz said. “I’m taking this seriously because of all the other incidents that have happened around the country.”
Munoz claims that another student was threatened and called “an idiot” by Ossowski during the incident with her son, but that child’s parents are not coming forward.
Munoz acknowledges that her son and the other student were likely being disruptive and needed to be disciplined.
“I’m not saying my son is an angel, but my taxes pay that teacher’s salary, and to say anything to any effect like that to any student is unacceptable,” Munoz said.
