The Jan. 4 article "Lawsuit against teacher is going to trial" in the Courier was a little misleading. Cupertino Union School District officials can deny all they want that this occured; however, being a parent whose daughter was assaulted by the same teacher some four years before, I can confirm it actually happened, and my case is documented by the state.

I applaud the Gaydoses for actually hanging in there at great personal cost with the mighty CUSD for over a year, while district officials did everything they could to minimize a very grave situation.

The district knew about this very sick teacher and chose not to act--much to the detriment of many children, not only Paige Gaydos.

I actually had to laugh when I saw that the district is trying to say that they can use physical restraint as a last resort; if anybody in that district had monitored that classroom more closely and had insisted on following the Hughes Bill (a wonderful state law that ensures proper procedures are in place for any kind of physical restraints), this would have stopped with my daughter. That it was left unchecked for four years disgusts me to no end.

Just because the Gaydoses were successful in changing Paige's placement in no way removes the responsibility of the injuries Paige sustained from a teacher employed by the CUSD.

The district should have offered a different placement immediately instead of having the Gaydoses go through the legal system after multiple incidents. The cost is irrelevant here, especially if a district has the right level of competence, they wouldn't even need an outside placement.

This lawsuit is a very important demonstration that there is a justice system that puts all parties on the same level.

Paul Naleid

Milpitas