A Northshore teacher is facing charges in St. Tammany Parish after being accused of putting Band-Aids on students’ mouths.
According to the Pearl River Police Department, this happened to seven students ranging from 8 to 10 years old at Riverside Elementary School.
Deputies say 38-year-old George Serban allegedly placed the Band-Aids on the students’ mouths as a punishment for talking in class.
Serban has been charged with simple battery and cruelty to juveniles.
Robert Toale, an attorney representing Serban, issued the following statement regarding the allegations.
“Please be advised that I have been retained to represent George Serban who, as you know, surrendered to police after being accused of ‘taping students’ mouths with a band-aid as a punishment.
I have been a criminal defense lawyer for forty-two years and I have never seen a case as outarageous as this.
As far as I know, the police officer hardly conducted an investigation and made an arrest upon the word of the students or parents and video as the students left the classroom.
The police made no attempt to speak to Mr. Serban before requesting a warrant.
Mr. Serban is a tenured teacher of music. He was teaching his students musical concepts developed by Emile Jaques-Dalcoze. You can Google and learn more about the Dalcroze Eurythmic technique, but suffice it to say the band-aids were meant to cover a sense to better understand pitch.
It is also important to understand that the technique was not employed as a punishment but merely to teach the students pitch.
According to Toale’s statement, due to Serban’s limited resources as a music teacher, he has started a Go Fund Me to pay his bond.
Toale’s statement also claims that the students, described as third graders, were using the band-aids as fake mustaches and were “playing around.”
Toale also says the Band-Aids were “poor quality” and did not stick very well.
READ MORE:St. Tammany Parish teacher arrested for putting Band-Aids on students’ mouths
