Teacher to Be Arraigned on Charges of Sex With Student

Colleagues of a Granada Hills High School teacher who was arrested on suspicion of having sex with a student expressed dismay Monday, and police were investigating whether the suspect had sexual relations with at least two other minors.

Florine Strimel, a 35-year-old special education teacher who was arrested late Friday, faces charges of having sex with a 17-year-old special education student.

Glendale Police Sgt. Rick Young said the two new potential victims were high school students in the San Fernando Valley and were under 18 when they reportedly knew Strimel. He said detectives had yet to interview the two students and declined to provide details.

“Phone calls continue to come in regarding [Strimel’s] activities over the past five years,” Young said.

Similar allegations against Strimel were investigated by police in 1996 and 1997, when she was a substitute teacher, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Unified School District said. The allegations were not substantiated and no action was taken, he said.

Strimel was in custody Monday in lieu of $265,000 bail. She is scheduled to be arraigned today in Glendale Municipal Court.

Strimel’s sister, Melinda, called the allegations ridiculous in a telephone interview from her home in Pennsylvania.

“She likes helping people--maybe too much,” Melinda Strimel said. “I think that’s how this got started. She was trying to figure out the best course of action for this young man.”

Melinda Strimel described her sister as an art enthusiast, workout buff and animal lover. She said she received two art degrees from Penn State University before moving to California about five years ago and is working toward a master’s degree.

She said Florine Strimel dated frequently, but that the men in her life were her own age. “There was nothing strange,” she said.

Hanging in the front window of Strimel’s house on Salem Street in Glendale is a print of Jesus Christ carrying the cross that her mother said her daughter had made. Next to a chair on the porch is a Bible. Strimel’s neighbor, Danny Walsh, said he would sometimes hear religious programming coming from her TV.

Investigators said they learned of the relationship with the boy after Strimel dropped him off at the high school Friday. The boy, who had been reported as a runaway by his parents two days earlier, told police he went home with Strimel. Detectives said they determined that Strimel had been dating the boy for about a month.

On Saturday, Walsh said, detectives took videotapes, photo albums and journals from her house.

Glendale police spokesman Young said some of the items may provide evidence in the criminal case.

Los Angeles Unified School District administrators declined to comment on the case beyond saying that they are cooperating with the police investigation.

Strimel is on leave until the investigation is completed, school officials said.

At Granada Hills High, secretaries fielded phone calls from concerned parents and Principal Kathleen Rattay met with teachers to prepare for students returning today from an extended weekend.

“I imagine all our students will need to talk,” Rattay said. “We’re all devastated. We’re concerned about how students are going to handle this very adult situation.”

At least eight crisis counselors will be on campus to help students.

Dan Isaacs, the district’s assistant superintendent in charge of school operations, said the district periodically issues updates to remind principals and teachers about conduct with students. He said that the district sent schools guidelines in October stating that teachers should not take students off campus without district and parental approval, should not drive students in their personal vehicles and should not call students at home.

Strimel was a substitute teacher last spring and became a full-time special education English teacher this school year. “She was a fine teacher,” Rattay said. “Students held her in high regard.”