Teacher, SFPS, board sued

Jan. 31--The parents of a boy who claims he was roughed up and choked by an arts teacher at Atalaya Elementary School in 2012 is suing the teacher, Santa Fe Public Schools and the school board.

Roberta Johanson and Joey Sandoval filed the lawsuit in state District Court in Santa Fe on Thursday, charging that their son, who was 6 years old at the time, was subjected to "deprivation of his rights, personal injury, embarrassment, humiliation, indignity, insult, and extreme fear and anxiety." They are seeking compensatory, punitive and exemplary damages, court costs and attorney fees.

According to an SFPS official, the teacher, Nina Mastrangelo, who had been employed by the school district for about nine years, resigned from her position in February 2013, about two months after the incident.

"The district is aware that a lawsuit has been filed and once we are formally served, we will analyze and proceed appropriately," Latifah Phillips, the school district's chief of staff, wrote in an email to the Journal .

According to the complaint, the boy was attending a first-grade art class at Atalaya in December 2012 when Mastrangelo became outraged because the boy was talking out of turn.

The teacher allegedly placed her arm around the boy's neck so that the crook of her elbow was up against his throat and pulled him over to a wall in the classroom. She then allegedly placed both hands around the boy's neck in a choking manner, lifted him up so only his toes were touching the floor and shoved him against the wall in "a rapid and violent manner" while screaming into his face. He was then made to stand against the wall for the remainder of the class period.

According to the lawsuit, the alleged assault left marks on the boy's neck, throat, chest and back, and his head was swollen from being slammed against the wall. It also claims he now cries excessively and is afraid to leave home because he is afraid of seeing Mastrangelo. He is also "terrified" to attend school, has trouble sleeping, nightmares and insists on sleeping in his parents' bed ever since the incident.

The lawsuit also claims that an insurance adjuster and representative of the school district contacted the parents' attorneys at Santa Fe's Egolf, Ferlic and Day law firm last year and complained that Johanson had been talking about the incident to other people at the school. That person allegedly told the parents' attorneys to "tell (the parents) to shut up about this" because Johan-son was "causing problems" at the school.

The lawsuit states that the parents' legal counsel considered that a threat of retaliation from the defendants.

The lawsuit alleges that Mastrangelo's conduct was unreasonable and grossly excessive. It further claims that SFPS are liable for the actions taken by the teacher because she was not properly trained or supervised and should never have been hired by the school district. It says that the school district and school board "were on notice of Mastrangelo's prior history of temper tantrums, angry outbursts, and inappropriate physical contact with the students."

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