Alleged 'Bully Teacher' pleads not guilty, faces trial

Date: 5/29/2012

May 28, 2012

By Chris Maza

chrism@thereminder.com

EAST LONGMEADOW — Birchland Park Middle School teacher Barbara Galanek appeared in Palmer District Court on May 22 to answer to charges that she assaulted a 13-year-old student and later attempted to intimidate him to prevent being reported.

Attorney Michael Donahue, representing Galanek on behalf of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, told judge Patricia Poehler his client pled not guilty and a pre-trial hearing was scheduled for July 11. Galanek was released on her own recognizance.

Donahue said he and Galanek had no comment after the proceedings except to say that they would "wait and see what happens."

The charges against Galanek stem from a Feb. 22 incident in which the victim's parents reported that she was verbally abusive to him and pushed him into a desk and then put him in fear of reporting the incident, according to a statement taken by East Longmeadow Police Detective Joseph Barone.

According to a statement made by Birchland Park Middle School Assistant Principal Paul Plummer, several students and a paraprofessional who were interviewed by himself and Principal Kathy Hill corroborated all or parts of the statement made by the victim's father that Galanek called the victim to the front of the classroom, approached him with her arms folded, then "forcefully bumped him, slightly raising her arms," causing him to lose his balance and fall back into the desk of another student.

Rachel Soumakis, the one-on-one paraprofessional present in the room at the time of the alleged incident, stated to Barone that prior to shoving the victim, Galanek yelled at the student in front of the class because she had heard from three other teachers that he had given her dirty looks behind her back.

The victim's father told Barone that he was informed by his son that the day before the incident, he told Galanek she should yell at his cousin who jokingly pushed him in the hallway. When Galanek did so, the victim said he laughed because he thought Galanek was joking while reprimanding his cousin.

Soumakis also said that after shoving the victim Galanek walked to a table, picked up papers from a project the victim was working on and threw them on the floor.

Soumakis added that abusive behavior is not uncommon in Galanek's class.

"I have been assigned to Ms. Galanek's class since November of last year," she said in her statement. "I have observed her behavior to be verbally aggressive towards certain students on a daily basis. I would describe Ms. Galanek as a 'Bully Teacher.'"

Soumakis also noted that the victim did not talk back to Galanek during the assault and described him as a "normal kid."

The victim's father added that his son told him that later in the class, Galanek made him feel like the incident was his fault when she sat down with him and told him she would not call his parents because she "knew he would get killed."

Teacher Valerie O'Connor, who talked to the victim after hearing about the incident and encouraged him to tell his parents, first reported the incident to Plummer.

The victim's father also reported the incident to Superintendent Gordon Smith, who told him that an internal investigation would be conducted.

Smith declined to comment to Reminder Publications about what action was being taken against Galanek, stating that it was a confidential personnel matter. However, on Feb. 28, Hill indicated to police that Galanek was not in school and later stated that administrative action was initiated, according to the report.

Having been employed by the district since 1996, Galanek was serving as the department head for English Language Arts and, salaried at $72,354 with a total income of $75,315 in fiscal year 2011, is one of the highest paid teachers at Birchland Park.