| | Published January 25th, 2017
| Moraga Parents Rally to Defend Accused Los Perales Teacher
| | | By Sophie Braccini | | |
A Moraga family wanting to file criminal charges against a Los Perales
Elementary School teacher for allegedly duct-taping their son last year in the classroom has riled the local community - but not in the way many such cases do.
Parents in the Moraga School District are rallying around teacher
Millie Tang, a fifth grade teacher whom many of them call an exemplary educator.
Within two days of the news of a civil suit being brought against the MSD and Tang, over 60 families sent to the superintendent letters of support for the accused teacher. At the most recent MSD board meeting, parents publicly supported the teacher whom they call an extraordinary individual and remarkable educator. They asked the district not to settle the case if it was brought into legal channels, but defend the teacher's honor against what they call a "frivolous lawsuit."
The story that has been circulated in the media first came from the lawyer of the family of a young boy identified as "John Doe" to protect his privacy. He was in fifth grade last year in Tang's classroom.
The lawyer who represents John Doe's family, Larry E. Cook of Casper, Meadows, Schwartz & Cook, did not return repeated requests for interviews on this story.
In other media outlets, his version of the story has been that last year, during a class and in front of all his classmates, Tang put a piece of tape on John Doe's face and stigmatized him in front of the other children.
The family complained to the principal and filed charges with the Moraga Police Department. MSD immediately removed Tang from the classroom and she was suspended during the police and administrative investigations.
Moraga Police Chief Jon King said that last year when the family brought charges his officers investigated the case against the teacher. At the time King says that there was not sufficient evidence against the teacher and the district attorney decided to drop the charges. Tang returned to the classroom after the investigation and has been continuing to teach since.
It is a different version of the incident that is given by parents of other children who were in Tang's class at the time. Several reached out to the Lamorinda Weekly. Joey Yoder had a daughter in room 22 at the time of the incident. Yoder says that what her child has said is that all the children agree that John Doe put the tape on his mouth himself, that Tang asked him to remove it and to respect class rules. Another parent who would rather not be named said that Tang's roll of duct tape in the classroom was a prop she pointed to when she wanted the children to calm down, but that she never used it against any of them. That parent and at least one other confirmed to this reporter that their children said John Doe put the tape himself on his mouth and clowned around with it, refusing to remove it.
At the school board meeting that followed the breaking of the story in different media outlets, parents came to express their unconditional support of Tang. They said they are sad that the nature of the accusations wrongly impugned the professional character a beloved teacher.
Testimonies of her caring, skills, extraordinary ability to reach and impact even the most challenging students and to make a positive difference in their lives were described over and over again in person and in the letters to the district. Parents whose children were in her classes said they held her in very high regard and felt she was honest, forthright, caring, compassionate, bright, loving, innovative and held the children to a highest level. Parents who went on field trip with her said they were blown away by her energy and dedication.
One parent explained to us that the sentence, "What happens in room 22 stays in room 22" used by John Doe's lawyer to hint that Tang threatened the kids, was in fact used by Tang to protect the privacy of what the children would share in the classroom. Many of Tang's current and former parents portray a teacher that would not likely put down a child, and whose passion for teaching has made a difference in her students' lives.
These parents asked the school district during the meeting not to settle the case. "The district has to stand up to defend Mrs. Tang," said the mother of a former student of Tang now in college and who had come back to support his former teacher. "Anything else would be a shame."
In the letters sent to the MSD are also missives from Tang's former students. "She took the time and effort to understand me as an individual, re-engaged me academically," wrote one ex-student, while another wrote "(she) was so welcoming, and she was a great role model and influence to me. My fourth grade year was, undoubtedly, the best year in my life."
This year, as a civil suit was filed against the MSD, King reactivated the case and his officers interviewed John Doe, something his family had not agreed to previously. The case was then brought to the District Attorney's office on Jan. 20. At the time Lamorinda Weekly went to press a decision had not been reached on whether to file charges against Tang. The story will be updated online at www.lamorindaweekly.com as soon as a decision has been made. The D.A.'s decision has no bearing on the civil law suit against the school district.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA