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A teacher at Selby Lane School in Atherton has been placed on paid administrative leave after a student in his class called Atherton police to report that the teacher was yelling and that she felt threatened, according to the Redwood City School District.
Police responded to the elementary school at about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 1, after the girl called and made the allegations about her teacher, John Haynes.
In a prepared statement, the school district said that when the police arrived, they “found a calm classroom, with no students in danger.”
Police Lt. Joe Wade said the 13-year-old student called the police from the campus restroom, saying that the teacher “was going crazy and throwing tables.” She sounded genuinely scared, he said.
When officers arrived at the classroom, he said, they found class in session, everyone was calm, “and there wasn’t anything strewn around.”
After talking with the teacher and students, the officers determined that “there was no criminal activity,” Lt. Wade said. The teacher had lifted a table up a couple of inches from the floor and let it drop to make a loud noise as a way to get the students’ attention, and the table had toppled over, he said.
No disciplinary action has been taken against the teacher, who was placed on leave so the district could investigate the student’s allegations, the school district’s statement said.
“Administrative leave is a procedure that is used to protect the rights of both teachers and students; it ensures that facts are determined before any conclusions are reached,” the statement said. “(It) allows time for a full assessment of the situation; input is gathered from students, teachers and anyone involved in the situation.
“After the situation is investigated and the facts are determined, the district decides on an appropriate course of action and determines whether discipline of either teacher or student is warranted.”
Superintendent Jan Christensen said the district hopes to conclude the investigation within a matter of days.
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The only thing that requires investigation is the contract the school has with its furniture supplier. The table should not have toppled over.
But as far as John Haynes being place on adminstrative leave — that is simply another case of Liberals Gone Wild. The teacher must be in firm control of the classroom and was totally within his rights to regain the attention of the students.
However, I do question the judgment of Superintendent Jan Christensen. The police reported their findings and that should have been enough. No wonder costs are out of control when the Superintendent wastes valuable time by going on an adminstrative wild goose chase. Sounds like there is a staff with too much time on its hands. Perhaps their should be a reduction in adminstrative overhead.
This is ridiculous. This is nothing more than a hysterical 13 year old girl making obviously unfounded accusations. Probably because she wasn’t paying attention or was being disruptive. What are we coming to when we take this kind of garbage seriously? The principal should have sent the girl home for the day for making false accusations.
The teacher lifted the table a couple of inches and dropped it to get the students’ attention?
I’m surprised they didn’t go into “lock down” mode and activate the SWAT team.
I agree with everything said this call should not have been made. If this girl was traumatized by this she is going to have a tough life, because it doesn’t get easier. When I was in school banging on a table was a lot better than some of the punishments I recieved, all were desrved.
Just another attempt by the Atherton PD to attempt to justify it’s existence. Another big story today was their dramatic arrest of a guy who allegedly stole a hammer from a pickup truck.
The girl probably had her first case of PMS, causing her to horrendously overreact. I remember being 13 – no thanks! Poor teacher – I hope that he recovers & the students learn from this – to be quiet & respect their teachers. The girl’s parents will get lucky if the guy doesn’t sue them for having such a hysterical child.
The student’s overreaction isn’t the issue. She’s a kid with a cell phone.
But the overreaction of the police, the principal and the superintendent are inexcusable.
They all owe the teacher an apology.
POGO, the kid started it (PMS!) & she needs to held accountable, in the manner appropriate for her age, for the chain reaction she started. I agree that the wimps, er, administrators involved behaved stupidly – total over correction.
I hope the teacher gets reinstated. Perhaps he should sue.
Sorry, but I don’t expect much from a 13 year old student.
But I do expect more from the ADULTS on scene – especially the police, the principal and the superintendent. That this teacher was put on paid leave is a travesty. The adults have overreacted and compounded a non-event.
Oh brother. Another reason why cell phones should not be allowed in the classroom. I hope this teacher was able to enjoy time away from the students. Heaven knows they need it.
The APD released the dispatch tape (why I don’t know) and the San Mateo Daily News site has it online. During the beginning of the tape, the dispatcher seemed pretty good. But as it goes on, it becomes obvious there’s really nothing to this situation and the more appropriate response would have been for the dispatcher to call the principal and ask them to check into this first before determining whether any police action was needed. But they (APD) are hungry to get some good press after so much bad press, the miscalculation seems to be that this would reflect well on them but in fact it does not.
Thanks, Tape, for the info. I agree APD is hungry for good press – but this was a lousy way to try to get it. Really, really stupid.
POGO, having been a 13 y/o girl, I have higher standards because I’d never have done anything like that & neither would my friends. I totally agree w/you re the adults.
Best comment from recording website pasted below (credit to Tarra Scott). It really brings up an interesting question which is this town is looking at the cost of the police department vs. the benefit and other communities here have outsourced their police department. Does this mean that the police department in Atherton will look to create incidents over minor things when there are none to attempt to justify its existence? This is really not so far fetched a concept, it happens all the time in many different walks of life. Perhaps this is some of what has happened in all the other terrible press incidents like Johns, Buckheit, Bothon, none of that would certainly have resulted in anything in most communities simply because the police are too busy with real police work.
“Tarra Scott · Taipei, Taiwan
Seriously, are they that f*cking stupid in Atherton? This dispatcher should have been fired as soon as this tape was heard. The first thing she should have said is, “Where is the principal?” The girl admits that not only is her friend from whom she borrowed the phone is still in the classroom, but the other 20+ students are still there. Not running out of the room. That the girl is “scared” the other kids will tell the teachers that she is the one who reported him, as in they would be more on his side than hers. *Because they aren’t scared of him.*
Five minutes after dispatching the police, she asks if the teacher had weapons. FIVE f*cking minutes, long after asking her about the bathroom location or the name of the teacher or if she had a dog. That to this dispatcher is more important than whether there is any actual danger to the students . Eight minutes later she finally suggests going to the principal’s office. The first thing she should have said.
She is talking to a girl who admits that she is the only one of 20+ students who left the room, that she had enough time to ask to borrow her friend’s cell phone used it to take video and that she is afraid of being caught skipping class because she had been hiding out for a long time, long enough to formulate a plan to get back at the teacher.
I hear a girl who got mad, wants to exact revenge on her teacher, and then gets scared because she realizes that she f*cked up by calling 9-1-1 and getting the police involved. I hear a dispatcher who does not assess whether or not there is an actual emergency before dispatching emergency services. I hear her say “the students hiding in the bathroom” which is so ambiguous.
It’s obvious that “Maria” wasn’t scared that the teacher was “going crazy” (a lesson in hyperbole is long overdue). She was scared because she got a stronger retaliation against her teacher than she had expected. And the dispatcher is officially an idiot for taking her seriously, and not getting the basics right off the bat. I hope that woman’s head rolls for wasting all those people’s time. More than the girl deserves because the dispatcher should have known better.”