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Los Angeles school removes staff amid sex abuse scandal

MaggieD

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BBC News - Los Angeles school removes staff amid sex abuse scandal

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The entire staff of a Los Angeles elementary school will be replaced after two teachers were arrested for sexual abuse, authorities say. More than 120 staff at Miramonte Elementary School will be removed and interviewed. No other staff are currently under suspicion.

Mark Berndt and Martin Springer were arrested last week on separate allegations of child sexual abuse...

Existing staff (120 people) will continued to be paid and school officials say many will eventually return to work...Superintendent John Deasy said new staff members would go through a "rigorous screening process." "I cannot have another student tell me he is afraid," he said.

Both the alleged abusers, Mark Berndt and Martin Springer, were long-term employees.

Teaching union United Teachers Los Angeles said in a statement that they had met with teachers at Miramonte. "We support a thorough, vigorous and fair investigation of all allegations," the statement said. "It's everyone's responsibility to ensure that any and all allegations are thoughtfully and carefully investigated."

However, some parents at the school told the Los Angeles Times they were alarmed that students had reportedly complained about Mr Berndt over the past two decades. "My trust level is at zero," said Cassini Quarles, a Miramonte parent at Miramonte said...

Mark Berndt, 61, is accused of committing lewd acts with 23 children under the age of 10, between 2005 and 2010.
Police said a photo developer raised the alarm after being handed about 40 pictures of blindfolded children. In some of the photos, the accused had his arm around the children or was covering their mouth with his hand. Some had their mouths taped shut.

Tests on a spoon and container found in the accused's classroom tested positive for semen, the sheriff's department said.
Martin Springer, 49, was arrested on Friday on suspicion of fondling two female students.
Both teachers were long-serving classroom instructors

Mr Berndt, a third-grade teacher, had taught for more than 30 years. He is being held on $2.3m (£1.5m) bail.
A teacher at Miramonte since the beginning of his career in 1986, Mr Springer taught second-grade. He is being held on $2m bail.

Unbelievable.
 
Californians do something right every now and then.Although this did take awhile.
 
Californians do something right every now and then.Although this did take awhile.

Don't know. Seems to me that paying 118 salaries for people who have been removed from the classroom for no reason is pretty far off the mark from "doing something right"; they got rid of the two who were under suspicion, so the other 118 are people that neither the police nor the school have any reason to suspect. By all means continue the investigation-- root it out and burn it clean-- but it doesn't make any sense to punish 118 people that nobody has accused of wrongdoing or to pay 118 people who aren't doing their jobs.
 
Don't know. Seems to me that paying 118 salaries for people who have been removed from the classroom for no reason is pretty far off the mark from "doing something right"; they got rid of the two who were under suspicion, so the other 118 are people that neither the police nor the school have any reason to suspect. By all means continue the investigation-- root it out and burn it clean-- but it doesn't make any sense to punish 118 people that nobody has accused of wrongdoing or to pay 118 people who aren't doing their jobs.

Are you saying you don't believe any of the 118 people ever had a suspicion?
 
Don't know. Seems to me that paying 118 salaries for people who have been removed from the classroom for no reason is pretty far off the mark from "doing something right"; they got rid of the two who were under suspicion, so the other 118 are people that neither the police nor the school have any reason to suspect. By all means continue the investigation-- root it out and burn it clean-- but it doesn't make any sense to punish 118 people that nobody has accused of wrongdoing or to pay 118 people who aren't doing their jobs.

Those 118 people will most likely be sent to various other schools.Ever heard of the dance of the lemons?

What is the Dance of the Lemons?
 
Idiotic and unethical to remove folks from their place of employment for doing NOTHING. It's like removing the entire staff at a store because ONE person was caught stealing. This is nothing but grandstanding by the school district because THEY screwed up by not addressing the situation earlier.
 
Don't know. Seems to me that paying 118 salaries for people who have been removed from the classroom for no reason is pretty far off the mark from "doing something right"; they got rid of the two who were under suspicion, so the other 118 are people that neither the police nor the school have any reason to suspect. By all means continue the investigation-- root it out and burn it clean-- but it doesn't make any sense to punish 118 people that nobody has accused of wrongdoing or to pay 118 people who aren't doing their jobs.

Idiotic and unethical to remove folks from their place of employment for doing NOTHING. It's like removing the entire staff at a store because ONE person was caught stealing. This is nothing but grandstanding by the school district because THEY screwed up by not addressing the situation earlier.

I have to agree.

They apparently have good reason to believe that two teachers have been engaging in misconduct.

No reason at all to spread the scandal or the punishment to one hundred eighteen others, for whom no similar suspicion exists.

Those for whom no reason exists to suspect them of misconduct, ought to be allowed to continue doing their jobs; and certainly shouldn't be forced to bear the taint of having been removed from their jobs over a scandal in which they were not themselves involved. That's the sort of taint that will unjustly work against them in future attempts to seek employment or advancement in their careers.
 
Those 118 people will most likely be sent to various other schools.Ever heard of the dance of the lemons?

I was an Education major for my last go-round with college. It's still staggeringly inefficient for dealing with teachers who are not under suspicion-- and I fail to see how it, in any fashion, improves the handling of teachers that are. Seriously, trial by combat was a more efficient and effective system of justice than this madness.
 
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