Principal didn’t mean to say teacher committed ‘misconduct’ for making pupil do pushups

The principal at Slater Elementary School in Fresno wrote a letter that says a fourth-grade teacher committed “misconduct” nearly three years ago for making a 9-year-old girl do pushups and leg lifts in his classroom for talking in class.

But when Slater Elementary principal Kelli Wilkins testified Monday in Fresno County Superior Court she told the jury that it was not her intention to say teacher Joshua Gehris had committed misconduct.

“It did not rise to the level of misconduct or unlawful,” Wilkins said.

Wilkins said Gehris had the freedom to dish out discipline anyway he wanted. But she also admitted that once she found out what Gehris was doing, she told him to stop using physical exercises in the classroom as a form of discipline.

Gehris also testified Monday, saying it was never his intention to harm the girl, a fourth-grader who was sent to his classroom from Michelle Coyne’s classroom.

Gehris admitted he made the girl do pushups and leg lifts in front of other students, but he also said he didn’t know the girl or why she was in trouble in Coyne’s classroom.

He spent the rest of his testimony fending off accusations that he once was suicidal while serving in the military.

On the third day of testimony, jurors got a clearer picture of what happened in Gehris’ classroom on Jan. 21, 2016, and why the girl and her mother ended up suing Fresno Unified School District, Gehris and Coyne for negligence.

Testimony is expected to wrap up Tuesday in Judge Donald Black’s courtroom.

Gehris, Coyne and Fresno Unified are being defended by Fresno attorney Bruce Berger. The girl’s lawyers are Fresno attorneys Jason Helsel and Mark Vogt.

According to Berger, Gehris believed making students do calisthenics in the classroom was a good way to keep them focused after Christmas break. “A lot of these kids are sugared up and have extra energy,” Berger has told the jury. The exercises “was a way to burn off the extra energy, not punishment,” he said.

But Helsel and Vogt have accused Coyne and Gehris of being “bullies” for making the frightened girl do pushups, leg lifts and other exercises in front of students to publicly shame her. Berger, however, has told jurors state law gives teachers discretion in disciplining students to manage the classroom.

The girl accusing Gehris, Coyne and Fresno Unified, is now 12 years old and in seventh grade.

Coyne, 46, is a longtime Fresno Unified teacher, having spent nearly two decades at Slater, where she remains. Gehris, 42, began his first year as a full-time teacher at Slater during the 2015-16 school year. He currently teaches at Fort Miller Middle School.

In her testimony, Wilkins said she has been an educator at Fresno Unified for 24 years, and principal at Slater Elementary since 2015.

After the girl’s mother filed a formal complaint, Wilkins said she investigated by interviewing Gehris and his students. She said the mother’s complaint was true. In a letter, she wrote: “Based on the investigation, allegations of misconduct against Mr. Gehris are founded.”

But in court, she testified it was a mistake to leave “misconduct” in the letter. She said she was given a template for the letter and didn’t realize “misconduct” was in her final version that she signed.

Wilkins also testified that she doesn’t tell teachers how to discipline students. Her role as principal, she said, is to give them suggestions or advice.

Wilkins testified teachers have the freedom to do discipline any way they see fit to manage their classroom. “Each teacher comes with their own repertoire and strategies,” Wilkins said. “It’s up to them to utilize their strategy.”

Wilkins testified Gehris had the freedom or discretion to use physical exercises as a form of discipline. She said no other parent had complained about his method.

Before Gehris testified, Maria Mazzoni, a Fresno Unified human resources administrator, told jurors that Gehris was hired after he passed a background check that included being fingerprinted. The fingerprints would have told Fresno Unified if he had ever been arrested or convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, she said.

Her testimony was important because Black ruled that the girl’s lawyers could not question Gehris about a restraining order against him from 2010 to 2013 after his ex-wife accused him of abusing her and their six children. As part of the restraining order, Gehris has to complete a batterer’s treatment program, Helsel said.

Berger, however, argued that the restraining order was “scurrilous” and designed to unfairly attack Gehris’ character. He said Fresno Unified did not know about the restraining order because the district’s background checks do not dig into divorces.

In his ruling, Black said the restraining order was highly prejudicial toward Gehris and therefore could not be mentioned to the jury of eight women and four men.

In his testimony, Gehris said he was in the Coast Guard from 1994 to 1996, a reserve in the National Guard for about a year, around 1999, and a cook in the Army from 2001 to 2006. He said he received an honorable discharge from the Army.

Before becoming a teacher, Gehris said he did construction jobs and worked in restaurants. He also did substitute teaching before becoming a full-time teacher.

His stint in the Coast Guard drew attention because he was discharged after two years of a four-year commitment. Gehris testified that a death in the family allowed him to be discharged early. But Helsel said a medical report says a doctor recommended that Gehris be discharged because he had told the doctor he had thought of suicide.

Gehris admitted seeing a doctor about his mental health while in the Coast Guard due to the death of a close relative, but denied being suicidal.