Con Artist Passes Self Off As Student Teacher

By Simon Read, STAFF WRITER

DANVILLE — A young woman posing as a student teacher lifted credit cards and a wallet from two teachers at Montair Elementary School last week and spent thousands in a Hayward shopping spree.

The incident occurred Friday afternoon when a woman who claimed she was working toward a teaching credential at San Jose State University walked into the school’s office and said she needed classroom experience, officials said.

“She spoke with (Principal Matt Hermann) and said she needed to work some volunteer hours in a classroom as part of her credential requirement,” said Terry Koehne, spokesman for the San Ramon Valley Unified School District.

Hermann walked the woman to a kindergarten classroom, where she spent 20 minutes observing the class and chatting with the teacher, Koehne said.

About 3:30 p.m. — after classes had let out for the day — the teacher went to the restroom, leaving the woman alone in the classroom, Koehne said. When the teacher returned, she found her wallet and credit cards missing.

Subsequently, a teacher in an adjacent classroom found that credit cards were missing from her wallet, Koehne said. Teachers searched the campus for the woman, but to no avail.

“At that point, they called the police and the credit card companies,” Koehne said. “The credit card company asked one of the teachers if they were in Hayward, because someone was using her card at that moment at an Old Navy store.”

Koehne said the woman racked up $3,000 in charges on the credit cards in various stores throughout Hayward. The woman is still at large.

School officials soon discovered the name and phone number the woman provided were “bogus,”Koehne said.

“She was not enrolled at San Jose State,” he said, adding it’s not uncommon for student teachers to approach campuses asking for classroom experience.

“Hermann is very upset that someone would take advantage of both him and the school,” Koehne said.

Hermann did nothing wrong, Koehne said, and will not face any disciplinary action.

“It’s a judgment call,” he said. “These things happen all the time as far as people coming to us and requesting service hours.”

Koehne said the woman knew how to “talk the talk. She spoke and presented herself professionally. She talked as if she knew how to speak the language of a university credential program. There was nothing suspicious about her at all.”

In light of recent events, the school district will review its policies pertaining to student teachers, Koehne said.

“Currently, student teachers are fingerprinted through their universities and go through background checks,” he said.

“One of the things we’re looking at right now is an electronic monitoring system, which will allow us to scan driver’s licenses and directly access the Megan’s Law database.”

Danville Police Sgt. Ron Bradley voiced some frustration on Wednesday with school officials.

“At this point, they’ve told the media more than they’ve told us,” he said, adding that a description of the suspect was not yet available.