Teacher Arraigned on Felony Threat Charge

A San Clemente High School teacher was arraigned Wednesday on a charge that he made a terrorist threat against his supervisors. Frank M. Gardner, 49, is being held without bail at the Orange County Jail until a pretrial hearing next week.

According to police, Gardner allegedly told a nurse Friday at South Coast Medical Center that he was so angry after a disciplinary hearing at the Capistrano Unified School District that he wanted to kill his supervisors and harm himself.

If convicted on the felony charge, Gardner could face up to three years in prison, Deputy Dist. Atty. Elizabeth Henderson said.

Gardner’s attorney, Stephen Klarich, said that the teacher had taken himself to the hospital for an evaluation after getting extremely angry at a disciplinary hearing, called by district Supt. James A. Fleming to review an investigation into a student’s complaint against Gardner of verbal sexual harassment.

Klarich said Gardner had stopped taking his prescribed antidepressants a week or two before the disciplinary hearing. “He was very upset and went to the hospital because he wanted to check himself in,” Klarich said. “Not taking his medication may have caused him to snap a little bit.”

Klarich said that the judge at Wednesday’s hearing may order a full psychiatric evaluation of Gardner.

San Clemente High Principal James Hansen said that the verbal sexual harassment complaint was the only complaint against Gardner, who has been a history teacher at the school for more than 20 years.

Gardner has been placed on administrative leave and a substitute teacher has been assigned to his classroom indefinitely.

Klarich contends that the incident has been blown out of proportion and that Gardner “wasn’t planning on hurting anyone, but he had thoughts about it. That’s why he went to the hospital in the first place.”