By Geena Barret-Fernandez
Staff Writer
On Thursday morning, the entire staff, from teachers to cafeteria workers, at Miramonte Elementary will have been replaced. The cause of this extreme measure is due to the scandal surrounding two teachers at the school.
Mark Henry Berndt, 61, who has worked at the school for 32 years, has been charged with felony molestation involving 23 students, ages 6-10, between 2005 and 2010. He allegedly fed his students sperm-laced cookies as part of a food testing game. It has also been found that he had taken around 400 images of children, some with a cockroach on their face, others with blindfolds on or a spoonful of milky liquid placed near their lips. According to CNN, the investigation into Berndt started when the pictures had been discovered by a film processor at a drugstore, no doubt being disturbed by the images and had contacted the police.
NBC Los Angeles reports that Attorney Brian Claypool says that in 1990, a student had told school officials that Berndt had either tried to or did touch her genitalia. The student had been told by school officials not to make up stories. Claypool calls on the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department to broaden their investigation to go back 20 years.
Two students, who told the Los Angeles Times, said they had reported as far back as 1990 about Berndt’s behavior. One said that Berndt would often move his hands under his desk, near his lap, at the front of the classroom. A jar of Vaseline had also been in one of his desk drawers. After telling a counselor, the student had been told that it’s not very good to make up stories. The other student had told her mother, yet her mother didn’t take it seriously enough at that time to report it to school officials.
Berndt is currently in custody, being held on a $23 million bond, and is expected to be arraigned in court on Feb. 21.
Martin Bernard Springer, 49, was arrested and booked on suspicion of committing lewd acts upon two 7-year-old girls in the last few years. He is being held on a $2 million bail and is expected to be in court on Tuesday.
Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Dr. John E. Deasy has decided to replace the entire staff in order “to stabilize the learning environment and offer immediate and on-going support,” as reported in a letter to all LAUSD employees. 88 teachers and 40 other staff members have been replaced.
Parents in the South L.A. community have mixed feelings on the school board’s decision to replace the faculty. L.A. Now reports that dozens of parents have protested outside of the school with their kids holding signs proclaiming that they want their teachers back and not all of the teachers are criminals. Other parents believe that the decision is the right choice because they don’t feel comfortable keeping their children in a school where this outrage has occurred and only recently has had something done about it.
According to Latino’s Fox News, the parents demand greater communication with education officials and the placement of cameras in classrooms and hallways.
School will resume Thursday morning. According to Superintendent Deasy’s letter, “every class will be taught by a 2-person team made up of an instructor and a counselor to help students remain focused on learning and also offer immediate and on-going support.”
