An physical education teacher accused by some parents of sexual misconduct has not been on campus since Monday, May 14, and has been replaced by a substitute teacher.
The PE teacher, Roman Cisneros, has been moved to the so-called "rubber room," a reassignment center at LAUSD headquarters downtown, according to an ERHS staff member who spoke to Patch on condition of anonymity. Cisneros is scheduled to retire in July, according to ERHS Principal Salvador Velasco, and has not been charged with any crime.
The ERHS staff member’s account of the PE teacher’s absence from campus confirmed a tip e-mailed to Patch Thursday evening by someone who claimed to be an LAUSD substitute teacher.
Patch called LAUSD District 4 Director Annick Draghi for official confirmation but was told that she had “no comments at this time” and that she would get back to Patch shortly.
At about 2 p.m. on Friday, Patch received a phone call from an official at the LAUSD Office of Communications, Gayle Collard Terry, who said that Draghi had referred the query to her.
“All I can tell you is that personnel matters are confidential,” Terry said. Calls to ERHS Principal Salvador Velasco went unanswered.
On May 9, Draghi was part of an LAUSD-moderated forum at which several parents complained that Cisneros, a former dean of students, allegedly indulged in inappropriate behavior with ERHS students, including asking them to call him “papi chulo,” a Spanish term with sexual connotations that roughly translates as "hot daddy." Cisneros has played small roles in several Hollywood films, most famously in the 1983 gangster movie Scarface, starring Al Pacino.
Velasco told parents at the May 9 meeting that he had not received a single complaint about Cisneros from any parent or student—officially or informally, and that if he receives any complaints, it will be his top priority to investigate them. Cisneros was not present at the meeting, and nothing said at the meeting suggested that LAUSD has investigated or sanctioned him in any way.
The LAUSD-moderated forum had been called in the wake of an ERHS coach’s dismissal in February following a series of conflicts that he had with Cisneros over the use of the school’s weight room. Click here to read the coach's account of those conflicts. Patch has been unable to obtain Cisnero's version of the conflict. Principal Velasco replied to Patch's request for an interview with Cisneros last week by saying that the PE teacher is not talking to the media.
The coach, Steven Jovanelly, was briefly detained by school police for trespassing after he visited the campus to distribute copies of a letter, drawing attention to what he believed was his unfair dismissal. Jovanelly's dismissal sparked protests by scores of students on May 8 and May 9.
I find it interesting that others have started posting that Cisneros did a good job as dean at ERHS and that the accusations made about his tenure at Lincoln can't be true since the posters had entirely the wrong decade.
I respect everbody's opinion, but whether or not Cisneros was a great dean back in the 90's is irrelevant lets remember the Penn State scandal. These men that produced a great team for many years and many of the students and parents loved these men, but truth of the matter is they did something very wrong and needed to be held accountable for the harm that Sandusky brought upon these kids. I doubt that you as a mother would allow somebody to bring harm to your daughter and not want them to be prosocuted properly instead of just "well God will judge him one day", and as for why these kids waiting so long for them to say something is such an ignorant thing to say. It is the hardest thing for kids to just come out and say publicly that they were abused or harrassed by Cisneros. It's scary for them because kids will always wonder if it's something they did to cause this person to act they way they did. As for Cisneros I can't judge him myself, but if there is truth to the allegations then I hope he is dealt with in a proper court setting and prosocuted.
Www.perdailly.com Www.hemlockontherocks.com
If you have questions write to speceducation@cde.ca.gov Or call (800) 926-0647 We cannot let these children to become more vulnerable . I reported this sort of thing to the district and it was tge wrong thing to do. Go straight to the state with issues of special ed. Noncompliance. It is very important to alert the state of all potential charges concerning the safety of students, especially special ed.
Did you read what you posted and how ignorant you sound???? A person in that kind of position such as deans, teachers, etc. should NOT have favorites!!!! Really??? Do you find that to be acceptable? Did you follow him around at ERHS all day? Were you his assistant? Stop being blind to what are the facts. out of all the comments on this news clipping the majority of them are not in his favor. So with that I say if it looks like a DOG, barks like a DOG, then more than likely it's a DOG!!!! HE IS A DOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So what he is going to be forced to early retirement and collect tax payers money for his pension while all his years at LAUSD instead of protecting students he bullied them? Well early retirement or not I think they still need to investigate these allegations and if true then you do the crime you do the time!!!!