Family: Fremont teacher slapped boy over math test

[Jesus Malverde]

A Fremont schoolteacher slapped a 9-year-old boy who he believed was mocking him by purposely misplacing a decimal point on a math test, the boy’s attorney and father said Thursday.

The teacher, Frederick Berg, 58, of Fremont was placed on paid administrative leave after the April 28 incident but is returning Friday to Patterson Elementary School over the objections of the boy’s parents, said the family’s attorney, Dionne Choyce.

“It’s shocking,” Choyce said. “Parents send their kids to school in the hopes that they’re in a safe environment and they’re protected from acts like these. You just don’t expect a teacher to put their hands on a child.”

Fremont police are investigating the incident, which happened as the boy was taking a math test in preparation for the STAR exam, said his father, Danny Rivera Jr.

The boy asked Berg for help on a question, and Berg twice slapped the student in the face in an incident witnessed by other students, Choyce said.

Read More: http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2014/05/08/family-fremont-teacher-slapped-boy-over-math-test/

[LTR]

1. Got slapped by a teacher in 6th grade

Don't remember why, but it certainly didn't warrant that. Shoulda ratted on him to the principal's office, but the probably wouldn't have done anything. Doesn't really matter now - considering this was 30 years ago, that old, decrepit bastard is probably maggot food by now.

[Jesus Malverde]

2. Yikes. That left a mark.

[RKP5637]

3. Some teachers are disgusting POS and belong nowhere near children. n/t

[Cirque du So-What]

6. I didn't get slapped in 8th grade, but I saw it happen to a friend

for the cardinal sin of chewing gum in class. Words cannot describe the contempt I have harbored for that woman over the intervening years, after I saw her grab my friend's hair just above his forehead, jerk his head backward, and deliver eight severe backhand and forehand slaps in quick succession. His pain, anger and humiliation were palpable. It comforts me to imagine Satan shoving a pineapple up her ass on a daily basis.

[MineralMan]

4. Assault and battery on minor.

That teacher should be prosecuted. It's a felony.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. I woulda pressed charges and also sued the hell out of the school district

for taking the teacher back.

[avebury]

9. Agreed! nt

I thought that teachers were mandatory reporters. Why didn't another teacher report this POS. If the teacher slapped the child over a test issue, I would be concerned about how many other kids this guy has slapped or abused.

[L0oniX]

7. I got pinned up against a wall in 4th over learning multiplication tables which I had learned.

Christian grade school full of weird ass teachers with major personally flaws.

[senseandsensibility]

8. Not excusing the teacher in any way

and if this proves to be true, he isn't fit to teach. However, I wonder if the stress of high stakes testing is getting to some teachers. Teachers are human beings with flaws and health issues just like everyone else. Today's schools are very stressful places for educators. Unfortunately, a tiny minority might not be able to handle it. Again, NOT excusing this.