NJ road-rage teacher burst into a school bus — loses job & career

PATERSON — A fired city teacher has been stripped of his teaching credentials as a result of a wild road-rage incident two winters ago in which he forced a school bus to stop on the middle of a highway and then attacked an elementary school student inside for having thrown a snowball at his car.

Nathaniel Gerson agreed to resign from his job at Don Bosco Technology Academy in March 2018 after the district filed tenure charges in an effort to fire him.

Officials say that on the afternoon of Feb. 13, 2017, an 11-year-old boy tossed a melting snowball out of the window of the bus, hitting Gerson’s car on Route 20 North.

Gerson began by honking his horn and motioning for the bus to stop, eventually cutting off the bus and forcing it to stop in the middle of the highway.

Gerson then got out of his car and began banging on the bus door until he was let in, officials said.

Gerson began shouting obscenities at the school bus full of children, officials said.

“Where is the motherf----- who threw that snow ball?!” witnesses said he demanded. “That little b---! Come here you piece of s---!”

When he identified the boy who had thrown the snowball, he shoved an 11-year-old girl out of his way, grabbed the boy by the neck and arm, pulled him out of his seat and forced him onto the floor of the bus while hitting his head, officials said.

“Are you f---ing crazy? Why the f--- did you hit my car?!” witnesses said Gerson yelled.

Another teacher, Maria Colon, pulled over after seeing the bus being forced to stop. When she climbed into the bus, she said she saw Gerson pinning down the student with his knee on the boy’s back while Gerson screamed at him.

District officials said this was all witnessed by other students, the bus driver and a bus aide. District officials said the boy was crying and his classmates were upset.

The district filed tenure charges alleging that he engaged in conduct unbecoming and placed students at risk.

Last year, before his resignation, Gerson had been fighting the charges. While he admitted that he put his hands on the student, Gerson said that the boy had slipped and fallen to the bus floor on his own, the Paterson Press reported. He also blamed the boy for engaging in “extremely dangerous behavior” and creating “a life-threatening situation” by hitting his windshield with “a block of ice and snow.”

The State Board of Examiners, the body that regulates teaching credentials, gave Gerson several opportunities to defend himself against the charges but he never responded.

In April, the Board of Examiners found that he had engaged in conduct unbecoming and revoked his credentials in K-8 elementary education.

Sergio Bichao is deputy digital editor at New Jersey 101.5. Send him news tips: Call 609-359-5348 or email sergio.bichao@townsquaremedia.com.