Elementary School Teacher Holds Kids Hostage, Uses 1 As Shield...Parents Defend Her

[bloodrayne]

Parents Rally Around Teacher Arrested At School

Contra Costa, California - Parents of several students who watched police handcuff and arrest their second-grade teacher said Thursday they think the teacher was mistreated by West Contra Costa school district officials, and they plan to file formal complaints.

Sheldon Elementary teacher Jennie Mo, 57, is being held on suspicion of 18 counts of false imprisonment after police say she held her students hostage and used a child to shield herself from an officer after school officials placed her on leave Wednesday.

Her bail has been set at $900,000, and she has not yet appeared in court.

Police say Mo was arrested after refusing to leave school grounds when asked and for telling her students to stay in the library with her when school officials asked the students to leave.

Mo told the Times before her arrest this week that the district was not doing enough to discipline two bullies who brought knives to school, threw rocks at students, wrapped ropes around the necks of other children and used racial slurs. She contended the district put her on leave in retaliation for going to the media.

District spokesman Paul Ehara said Mo was put on leave because of her erratic behavior.

"The real issue is that we've placed an employee on paid administrative leave because of pre-existing concerns we have about her conduct," Ehara said. "And her recent conduct has only served to confirm those concerns."

Ehara said the district has a policy in place for handling disciplinary issues but would not comment directly on whether Mo's allegations of bullying at Sheldon are being investigated.

"Because of student privacy laws that are written into the ed code, we know that the standard procedure and protocol for our schools are to review safety concerns and respond appropriately," Ehara said.

Several parents told the Times on Thursday that their children said Mo did not hold the students hostage and that they chose to stay with Mo. Others said they felt her actions were justified.

"I'm thinking she did what she thought was right," said Rocio Salinas, parent of a second-grader in Mo's class. "She went to them and they didn't do anything about it and so she took the next step."

Juanita Chavez-Gordon said she and at least nine other parents of students in Mo's class plan to file complaints with the district and also plan to respond to Mo's arrest in a formal address to the media, possibly next week.

"I cannot believe they have her in jail," Chavez-Gordon said, adding that she feels officials should not have waited until Mo was at the school to tell her she was on leave. "They did not need to do that in the middle of the school day. The kids were not in any kind of danger. The danger would have come from the kids she was trying to protect them against."

Ehara said the district had planned to notify Mo off campus.

"Plans were made to have this matter occur outside of the school day and away from the school," he said. "But we did not receive cooperation and we were put in the unfortunate position of responding accordingly."

Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan said Wednesday that officers used no force during the arrest, and based on Mo's behavior, they did what they felt necessary.

The department got an emergency protective order Wednesday barring Mo from campus if and when she is released.

Parents and teachers say Mo is well-liked by her students and by many parents, appearing to care deeply about the well-being of the children and using creative lesson plans. Mo has worked for the district since the mid-1990s and has been a teacher since the late 1980s.

Chavez-Gordon said her 8-year-old daughter, who witnessed the arrest, is handling things well for the most part but is sad at the thought of Mo not returning to school.

"When I talked to my daughter about it, she seems to be OK," Chavez-Gordon said. "But when I talk to her about the possibility that they may not let her return to the school, she just breaks down. I don't know what kind of long-term scars this is going to create."