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Video, Report Detail Teacher's Punch
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By Chris McGuinness
SUN Staff Writer
Published:
Thursday, August 18, 2011 10:07 AM MDT
A 12-page Española Police report and video footage shed more light on a May 10 fight between Española Valley High School science teacher John Reese and 14-year-old student Sonny Romero.

The report, written by School Resource Officer Danny Pacheco, includes summaries of statements given by students who witnessed the fight in which Reese allegedly sprayed Romero with a hose and then broke Romero’s nose when the student tried to hit Reese with a six-foot piece of metal pipe.

All nine of the witnesses confirmed Romero was not in Reese’s class and was talking with Reese’s students when Reese asked him to leave. When Romero refused to go, all nine students said Reese then grabbed and pushed Romero with one or both hands to try and get him to leave.

Three of the nine students said they saw and heard Reese try to call the school’s office for help. Reese said he used his cell phone to ask for help from administrators and security guards, but no one came.

Two other students said they saw Reese on his phone but did not know who he called.

Cell phone videos taken by two students show parts of the altercation. Both can be viewed by clikcing here.

One clip shows Reese and Romero speaking, as well as Reese talking on his cell phone. The second clip shows Reese spraying Romero with a hose. Romero then picks up a long pipe and strikes Reese with it. The second video clip ends with Reese grabbing the pipe and punching Romero in the face. Romero then throws a rock at Reese before the clip ends.

Pacheco’s report states some of the students said they heard Reese mock Romero. One witness, Juan Mondragon, told Pacheco he heard Reese refer to Romero as a “douche bag, (expletive) idiot and a retard” during the altercation.

“(Reese) was said to have told (Romero) to ‘get the (expletive) out of here you loser,’” Pacheco wrote.

Reese denied taunting Romero and said the name-calling most likely came from students watching the fight.

“There were a lot of students there, and they were taunting him,” Reese said. “I told him to pull his head out of his ass, but (Romero) was the one cussing at me.”

Romero, 14, of Chimayó, said Reese made fun of him and provoked the fight.

“He was calling me names,” Romero said. “I felt like he was disrespecting me.”

Neither video clip contains any evidence of words being exchanged between Reese and Romero.

Romero said he ended up in Reese’s class because his teacher was gone for the day and there was no substitute. Romero refused to give out the name of his teacher.

The police report also states Romero was supposed to be accompanied by a behavior management specialist. Such specialists are assigned to students with behavioral needs by the nonprofit Casa de Corazón, and the amount of time they are supposed to spend with a student can vary, according to District Special Education Director Christina Baca.

According to the report, when Pacheco asked Romero why the specialist wasn’t with him, Romero said the specialist wasn’t supposed to come to the school until after lunch. When the officer asked Romero’s grandmother why Romero came to school without the specialist, she allegedly said she wanted her grandson to attend school anyway.

“We can’t stop parents from sending their kids to school,” Casa de Corazón intake coordinator Tosha Martinez said. “If the specialist isn’t there, there’s not much we can do if they decide to send their child to school anyway.”

Martinez said she could not discuss specifics about the services Romero was receiving.

The failure of school security to respond to the incident, the alleged lack of a teacher in Romero’s classroom and the absence of Romero’s specialist left union representative Charles Goodmacher questioning the District’s commitment to supporting teachers in a tough environment.

“There’s no doubt that this incident would not have occurred if administration and the security staff had been on their toes,” Goodmacher said.

Romero said Monday he had not been punished for the fight and planned to return to school for the 2011-12 school year Tuesday.

Reese Fighting for Job

As Romero heads back to school, Reese is battling Superintendent Evelyn Maruska’s June 30 decision to fire him based on the allegations surrounding the fight.

In a letter to Reese, Maruska stated the teacher engaged in “violent and abusive” conduct toward Romero, which provoked him to fight.

Reese, who is also the District’s union president, sent a letter via his Santa Fe attorney July 7 requesting a termination hearing as per the union’s collective bargaining agreement. Reese said Monday the hearing was scheduled for Aug. 22.

Despite initially saying he would not have a problem requesting that the hearing be open to the public, Reese said he changed his mind based on advice from his lawyer, Roxie De Santiago. Reese maintained he was confident the evidence would show that he was acting in self-defense when he hit Romero.

Goodmacher chided Maruksa for trying to fire the teacher.

“We are certain that even if we have to go to arbitration, John Reese will be reinstated as a teacher,” Goodmacher said “(Maruska) will simply be wasting thousands of dollars in taxpayers’ money to oust the union president.”

Romero said he hoped the District would fire Reese because he provoked the altercation, which resulted in unwanted media attention for the student.

“It was kind of embarrassing seeing myself all over (television),” Romero said. “It was (Reese’s) fault, and he should be fired.”

However, one of Reese’s students, sophomore Bobby Ray Sisneros, questioned the District’s decision to fire Reese.

“I was there, and I saw the fight,” Sisneros said. “(Romero) started it, and (Reese) was just trying to protect himself. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”

According to District policy, Reese will make his case to the Española School Board, whose President Coco Archuleta said he could not comment on the matter because it related to disciplinary action against an employee.

Maruksa did not return calls for comment.