Schools chief announces entire Miramonte staff to be replaced
By Howard Blume | LA Times/LA NOW | http://lat.ms/zpBCIh
February 6, 2012 | 6:56 pm :: Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy told parents Monday evening that the district is replacing the entire staff of Miramonte Elementary School in the wake of the arrests last week of two teachers on lewd conduct charges.
The unprecedented move is intended to build confidence among the many families who have lost faith in their neighborhood elementary school. More than a quarter of students did not show up for classes Monday.
Officials stressed that no one else on the Miramonte staff is under suspicion of wrongdoing but that the chain of events has placed a cloud over the campus that can be lifted only with a drastic response.
PHOTOS: Parent uproar over sex-abuse claims
One of the largest elementary schools in the nation, Miramonte has about 1,500 students and a teaching and administrative staff of about 150.
The displacement could be temporary: Many, maybe all, of the current staff will be returned to the school eventually, officials said. In the interim, their places will be filled by qualified teachers and other workers already on a placement or rehiring list. There are plenty of available candidates: Over the last several years, thousands of instructors and other non-teaching staff were laid off because of budget cuts; the vast majority are considered fully qualified employees who lost work simply because they lacked sufficient seniority.
The displaced staff will continue to be paid and also will receive counseling for a series of events that also traumatized the Miramonte staff, officials said.
The restaffing is the latest development at Miramonte, which is south of downtown in unincorporated Florence-Firestone. A week ago, prosecutors charged a longtime teacher with 23 counts of lewd acts with a child. Mark Berndt, 61, allegedly spoon-fed his semen to blindfolded students and also took pictures of the acts. He has resigned from the district.
Later last week, sheriff's deputies arrested his colleague, Martin Bernard Springer, 49, on suspicion of fondling two 7-year-olds in his class within the last three years.
Teachers union officials said in a statement that they have met with instructors at the school.
"We support a thorough, vigorous and fair investigation of all allegations. It’s everyone’s responsibility to ensure that any and all allegations are thoughtfully and carefully investigated," the statement said.
Parents packed the meeting Monday evening at a nearby high school. The district had closed the meeting to the media even though parents demanded that reporters and cameras be allowed in. The district refused.
Photo: LAPD officers are shown Monday at Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles. Credit: Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times (smf: These are LAUSD School Police Officers – LAPD is not the law enforcement authority in the unincorporated area of LA county where Miramonte is.)
Entire staff to be replaced at LA school where 2 teachers were arrested
By msnbc.com staff and news services | http://on.msnbc.com/AlP7hL
Krista Kennell / AFP - Getty Images -- Eight-year-old Adrian Vital protests outside Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles, Feb. 6.
6 Feb 2012 | Updated at 11:04 p.m. ET: The Los Angeles Unified School District is replacing the entire staff of Miramonte Elementary following the arrest of two teachers on lewd conduct charges last week, Superintendent John Deasy told parents at a meeting Monday night, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Positions will be filled by qualified teachers and other workers already on a placement or rehiring list, the Times report stated. But the displacement of the current staff could be temporary, according to the report.
Teacher Mark Berndt was charged last week with committing lewd acts on 23 children. Another teacher, Martin Springer, was arrested Friday on suspicion of fondling two girls in his classroom.
Deasy said staffers are being replaced because a full investigation of allegations is disruptive, and staffers require support to get through the scandal.
There will also be a psychiatric social worker in every classroom to help students and staff cope with any issues that need to be dealt with.
Many children stayed home Monday while parents demanded more protection at an elementary school where two teachers are suspected of molesting students in class.
More than a quarter of the students at Miramonte Elementary School were absent, with attendance reaching just 72 percent, according to figures from the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Damian Dovarganes / Damian Dovarganes / AP -- Students are escorted to a waiting bus as they leave Miramonte Elementary school after classes Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012 in Los Angeles.
About three dozen parents and supporters protested in front of the main doors of the school earlier Monday, some carrying a banner that read, "We the parents demand our children be protected from lewd teacher acts."
As night fell, about 100 angry parents marched from the elementary school to the nearby meeting with administrators.
School police watched and sheriff's deputies were on hand, but there was no violence.
The district set up a toll-free hotline on Monday to receive reports of suspected abuse at Miramonte, said school board President Monica Garcia in a statement.
Garcia added that the district would step up efforts to ensure students and staff realized the importance of reporting misconduct.
In the same school district, a janitor at a San Fernando Valley elementary school was arrested on suspicion of committing a lewd act with a child on a campus.
A Los Angeles public school teacher accused of engaging in lewd acts with students, allegedly had questions raised about his behavior more than 20 years ago. KNBC's Robert Kovacik reports.
Paul Adame, 37, was taken into custody after a mother told police on Sunday that he had inappropriate contact with her child during school hours Friday at Germain Elementary School in the Chatsworth area north of Los Angeles, police Capt. Kris Pitcher said at a news conference.
The captain declined to provide details but urged anyone who might know of other possible victims to contact police.
Adame was booked and released on $100,000 bail Monday. It could not be immediately determined if he had an attorney.
There was no immediate connection between the arrest of the janitor and the cases at Miramonte, which is 15 miles away in an unincorporated county area of South Los Angeles.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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