Sunday, February 26, 2012

Balderas Elementary School

Three California fifth-graders who confessed to using rat poison in attempts to harm their teacher are being moved to other schools.

The three students at Balderas Elementary School in Fresno admitted lacing the teacher's coffee and a cupcake with rat poison in two separate incidents, according to the Fresno Teachers Association and published reports.

Miraculously, the teacher never took a sip of the coffee or a bite of the cupcake.

One of the three accused students apparently had a change of heart and knocked the coffee cup out of the teacher's hand before she could drink from it.

The mid-December incidents came to light two months after they happened because a parent of one of the students bragged that her boy saved a teacher's life.

No criminal charges have been filed against the two boys and one girl, according to ABC's Fresno affiliate KFSN. The Fresno Police Department is continuing to investigate, but says there is little or no physical evidence remaining from the December incidents. The Fresno County district attorney's office will decide whether to press charges against the children.

All three students have been expelled and moved to other schools, according to KFSN. The two boys are being transfered to the Phoenix Academy, which does not sit well with at least one of its teachers.

"They should not be placed at another campus where now other staff and other students have to worry about," Phoenix Academy teacher David Coss told KFSN.

"Certainly like a campus like ours where these kids are going to be elevated to gods to many of our kids, they're going to say this is great 'maybe I can do something similar to a teacher or an adult.'"

The Fresno Teachers Association is also troubled by the case.

“This is but the latest example of the dangerous conditions that exist in Fresno Unified due to inconsistent enforcement of discipline and lack of consequences for students daily,” FTA President Greg Gadams told KMAS Radio. “Something has to be done and this is a prime place to start insuring teacher safety and student accountability.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/california-fifth-graders-confess-rat-poison-attempts-harm-teacher-article-1.1028664#ixzz1nUe0slOk

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