Charges Filed Against Burbank Student Accused of Striking, Threatening Teacher

Criminal charges were filed Wednesday against a 15-year-old Burbank student who allegedly struck a teacher and threatened to kill him and another instructor. The student has been at the center of a dispute between teachers at John Burroughs High School and the Burbank school board over the board’s refusal to expel the student after the incident.

A felony charge of threatening a public official and two misdemeanor counts of battery were filed against the student, said Fred Kubik, the deputy district attorney in charge of the Pasadena Juvenile Division. Arraignment has been set for Nov. 8. If convicted, the student could serve a year in a juvenile detention facility.

Teachers at Burroughs staged a one-day wildcat strike on Friday to protest the decision by the Burbank school board not to expel the boy after a five-hour closed hearing earlier in the week. The teachers, who returned to work on Monday, said the board’s leniency will encourage future assaults.

The student was suspended for five days by Burroughs Principal Tim Buchanan.

The teen-ager is accused of hitting teacher George Rosales as Rosales and a second teacher, David Hermans, were breaking up a fistfight in a school hallway on Sept. 17, police and school authorities said. The boy then threatened to kill the two teachers, police said.

Margis Matulionis, the attorney who represented the youth in the hearing before the school board, said that the student swung at Rosales but missed. Then Rosales punched the boy, he said.

Rosales could not be reached for comment. Supt. Arthur N. Pierce said he could not comment on the incident.

Michael Severo, a second attorney also representing the student, said the boy, whose name is being withheld because of his age, is considering filing a lawsuit against Rosales.

Meanwhile, the Burbank school board will meet in closed session tonight to decide whether to move forward on suggestions by teachers to improve classroom safety. The board is also considering punishing the Burroughs teachers who participated in the walkout, an action prohibited in the teachers’ contract.