The Fresno Teachers Association held a new conference on Friday to discuss allegations of three 5th graders allegedly trying to poison a teacher.
The alleged attack happened about two months ago at Balderas Elementary School in Fresno.
The allegations are that the students attempted to get the teacher to ingest rat poison on two different occasions. The first attempt was in her coffee and the second attempt was in the icing of a cupcake.
The teacher never actually ate the rat poison, reportedly because one of the students had second thoughts and knocked the coffee out of her hand before she was able to drink it. In the other instance, the teacher accepted the cupcake from one of the students but never ate it and threw it in the trash.
Although this allegedly happened prior to winter break, it’s just now making news because one of the parents was allegedly bragging about her son saving the teacher’s life by knocking the poisoned coffee from her hand. That student was also the same student that allegedly put the poison in the cup in the first place.
Fresno Teachers Association President Greg Gadams said, “One child whose home was being treated for rodents had been approached by a second student to - “bring some of that; we have rodents too.””
FTA says they are coming forward with the allegations now because they claim the Fresno Unified School District has tried to cover up incidents of teachers being beat up, receiving death threats and other incidents.
According to the FTA, the students, ages 11 and 12, need to be punished or it sends the wrong message to other students.
The FTA also claims the district does not provide adequate counseling for students, especially for elementary grades.
The alleged attack happened about two months ago at Balderas Elementary School in Fresno.
The allegations are that the students attempted to get the teacher to ingest rat poison on two different occasions. The first attempt was in her coffee and the second attempt was in the icing of a cupcake.
The teacher never actually ate the rat poison, reportedly because one of the students had second thoughts and knocked the coffee out of her hand before she was able to drink it. In the other instance, the teacher accepted the cupcake from one of the students but never ate it and threw it in the trash.
Although this allegedly happened prior to winter break, it’s just now making news because one of the parents was allegedly bragging about her son saving the teacher’s life by knocking the poisoned coffee from her hand. That student was also the same student that allegedly put the poison in the cup in the first place.
Fresno Teachers Association President Greg Gadams said, “One child whose home was being treated for rodents had been approached by a second student to - “bring some of that; we have rodents too.””
FTA says they are coming forward with the allegations now because they claim the Fresno Unified School District has tried to cover up incidents of teachers being beat up, receiving death threats and other incidents.
According to the FTA, the students, ages 11 and 12, need to be punished or it sends the wrong message to other students.
The FTA also claims the district does not provide adequate counseling for students, especially for elementary grades.