Los Angeles school removes entire staff after teachers ‘sexually abused students and fed them semen’

A school in
Los Angeles has fired its entire staff after teachers were accused of sexually abusing
pupils and feeding them semen during ‘tasting games’.

The entire staff at Miramonte School, which teaches children from nursery to sixth-form level, were removed by Los Angeles schools Superintendent John Deasy to smash what he called ‘a culture of silence’.

'It was a quick, responsible, responsive action to a heinous situation,' he said. 'We're not going to spend a long time debating student safety.

The sackings come after Miramonte Elementary School teacher Mark Berndt pleaded not guilty to feeding young students biscuits covered in his semen in so-called ‘tasting games’.

Another teacher, Martin B. Springer, was also arrested after sexual abuse allegations.

The removal of the school's staff resulted in protests by parents and a raft of union grievances. The teachers, who were warehoused at another location, may now return to the classroom at Miramonte or another school, Deasy said.

The controversial decision to remove the entire staff underscores the 51-year-old superintendent's shake-up of the lethargic bureaucracy at the nation's second-largest school district.

Hired with a mandate to boost achievement in the 660,000-pupil Los Angeles Unified School District, Deasy has become known for 18-hour days that involve everything from surprise classroom visits and picking up playground litter to lobbying city elite for donations and blasting Sacramento politicians over funding cuts.