Hey — I’m talking here!
A chatty substitute teacher spent most of a class period yapping on his cellphone when he was supposed to be teaching science to third graders — and even yelled at kids when they interrupted his conversation, investigators found.
Retired public school teacher Bernard Flom told 8- and 9-year-old kids at PS 238 in Brooklyn to “shut up” because they were being too loud while he was on the phone during instruction time, according to the Office of the Special Commissioner of Investigation.
When they didn’t pipe down to his liking, the 67-year-old lashed out by calling them “freaks” and “a bunch of jerks” — and threatened to “kick their asses,” to boot.
One poor kid who went up to the front of the room to get a tissue during the teacher’s impromptu lesson in chutzpah said he tripped and fell. Flom allegedly told the boy he was going to “use him as a mop.”
Another student, who said the shameless sub spent at least half the period on the phone without teaching a lick of science, claims Flom called him “stupid,” the investigative report said.
Flom, who retired in 2002 but continued to work as a substitute for a full decade, denied to probers that he had said anything offensive or rude to the students.
He admitted to being on the phone for a quick, 2-minute call — but said it had been a medical emergency.
When he was approached by The Post outside his Manhattan Beach home yesterday, Flom initially said he didn’t know anything about the contentious May incident.
He eventually said, “I did not yell at those kids” and suggested they had been “coached by adults” to make the damaging allegations against him.
He also said he did not make a phone call during class that day.
“My phone records showed I wasn’t on my phone. I gave these over [to my attorney],” he said.
When he was reminded that he had told investigators he had been on the phone for a brief emergency, he said, “I did not make any calls. I didn’t dial out. But I may have received a call, maybe.”
Probers recommended Flom be ineligible to work for the school system again.