Teacher was kids' brawl monitor: DA

By WILLIAM J. GORTA

Last Updated: 12:27 PM, February 2, 2010
Posted: 2:09 AM, February 2, 2010

The first rule of fourth grade - no talking about fight club.

A Queens teacher turned his classroom into a boxing arena for two feuding students, telling the boys to settle their beef with their fists as their stunned classmates watched the bizarre spectacle, authorities said yesterday.

And to make sure no one found out his twisted teaching technique, the instructor, Joseph Gullotta, 29, allegedly supplied the kids with excuses for the nurse to explain away any injuries.

In one corner was a 10-year-old. His opponent was a year younger. The Post is withholding the kids' names.

Before beginning the match at the impromptu fight club at PS 65 in Ozone Park, Gullotta instructed a girl to close the classroom door. He ordered the rest of his pupils to back up and make way for the battle, Queens DA Richard Brown said.

The two combatants came out swinging and then began wrestling.

During the bout, the older boy's head rammed into the younger one's mouth. The younger boy suffered a cut lip; the older one, a bruised head.

"When two fourth-graders became involved in a verbal dispute, their teacher allegedly told one of the students that he should 'take it out' on another student," Brown said.

"When parents send their children off to school, their teachers have an obligation to provide a safe environment for them."

Teacher's aide Abraham Fox, 43, was in the classroom during the clash, but did nothing to break it up, the DA charged.

Neither student was offered a visit to the school nurse, despite Fox's observation that the 9-year-old might need stitches, Brown said.

Then out came the schoolbooks for two periods of more traditional instruction before Gullotta finally allowed the younger boy to visit the nurse.

Gullotta allegedly supplied him with a cover story for his injuries: He was to tell the nurse that he dropped a pencil and bashed heads with his classmate as they both bent down to pick it up.

He repeated the tale and told the nurse that the other boy was hurt as well.

She sent him back to get his adversary. Gullotta escorted the 10-year-old to the nurse's office and allegedly told him to repeat the made-up story.

The incident was discovered only after one of the boys' parents heard the child talking about it.

Gullotta and Fox were charged with two counts each of acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17 and could face up to a year in jail if convicted.

Fox was suspended without pay; Gullotta was reassigned to a rubber room.

People answering the door at the Long Island homes of Fox and Gullotta declined to comment.

From: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/teacher_was_kids_brawl_monitor_da_5eh6SUnTSM2Igj8gbSzCJP