Youth Accused of Attacking Teacher Draws Suspension

John Burroughs High School has levied a five-day suspension against a teen-ager whom the school board refused to expel for allegedly striking a teacher and threatening to kill him and another teacher, Burbank school district officials said Tuesday.

The decision by the Burbank school board last week not to expel the student triggered a one-day wildcat strike Friday by all but three of the teachers at Burroughs.

Following the decision, the student was allowed to return to Burroughs and was granted an excused absence for eight of the 13 days he missed before his expulsion hearing before the school board. The remaining five days are listed as an unexcused absence or suspension, Supt. Arthur N. Pierce said.

The student was accused of hitting teacher George Rosales in the shoulder Sept. 27 while Rosales and another teacher, David Hermans, were attempting to break up a fistfight in a school hallway. The student then threatened the two teachers.

Burroughs principal Tim Buchanan, who had recommended expulsion of the boy, said Tuesday that he immediately removed the student from school until the Oct. 17 board hearing.

The board decided the case after a five-hour closed session attended by the two teachers, the student and his parents. Also present were three attorneys, representing the board, the student and Burroughs High School administrators, school board president Vivian Kaufman said.

Teachers angry with the board decision said it is too lenient and will encourage future classroom violence. Following the one-day strike, teachers called for the district to install an emergency buzzer or telephone in classrooms and hire on-campus security guards.

In a written statement defending the board action, Kaufman said that “only the members of this board know the full story,” because witnesses testified separately in the closed hearing. She and other district officials say they are bound by state laws regarding privacy from revealing any details of the hearing.

District officials say they are considering punishment of the 49 teachers who participated in Friday’s walkout, which is forbidden under the current teacher contract.