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Alissa Piro: California teacher would fail students if they didn't align with her politically, claims ex-pupil

One student, Jace Jonas, said Piro's got angry after he inquired about a 'White student union' in the Zoom chatbox

A number of high school students spoke out on Monday, April 12, after a video of their teacher insulting them during multiple online classes went viral over the weekend. San Marcos High School teacher Alissa Piro was caught on video yelling at a virtual classroom of juniors and daring their parents to "come at me" over their efforts to reinstate in-person instruction full time, Fox News reported.

Piro was also heard in another video shared on social media aggressively yelling at a student who asked about a possible "White student union." She reportedly told the pupil: "You don't need a White student union, Jace. You get everything." Now, new allegations are coming up against her.

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Speaking to Fox News on Monday, the student, identified as Jace Jonas, said Piro's reaction came after he wrote a question in the Zoom chat box following the announcement of an Asian student union at the school. "I wanted to make a comment in the Zoom text box, not disrupting the class. I commented 'why do some races get student unions but others do not?' We should have a student union for all races or no races for true equality," he explained.

Visibly frustrated with Jonas, Piro paused her lesson before shouting "Goddammnit" in front of the entire class. "She started berating me about how as a White male I get everything and it's my duty to look out for minorities and all these racist remarks against Whites and males. She later called me a moron," he told the outlet.

Piro's outburst reportedly created a wedge between students, some of whom attacked Jonas with hate-filled messages over his inquiry. "My daughter's friend had sent the recorded video to her the morning it happened and she showed it to me. Because of our history with this teacher, I knew I needed to speak out with the abuse and bullying and frankly racism that I saw on that video," one mother told Fox News on condition of anonymity. "The saddest thing to me is that she created an environment in that Zoom classroom for some of the other students to comment mean things..."

Jace Jonas and his father Jim Jomas immediately informed assistant principal Kelley Brown about the exchange. The parent described the educator as "unhinged." He added: "I don't know what school she got her degree at, but maybe she can get her money back."

Aside from Jim Jonas, at least three other parents have reported the exchange to the school and the district, per the outlet. The school granted Jace Jonas permission to skip Piro's class for five days. In the meantime, he and his father sat down with Piro and Principal Adam Dawson for a "restorative meeting" during which she apologized for her actions.

But Joans' father would soon find that his son's grade in Piro's class had dropped considerably just weeks after the incident. "Jace was getting straight A's in school. After that incident he had a B in that class," Jim recalled. At that time, Piro blamed it to a computer error and corrected it. Piro would allegedly regularly denigrate teenagers who voiced political views different from her own, a former student told Fox News. "She's a good teacher when she's teaching but these rants aren't new," she said.

The student reportedly remembered being afraid to participate in Piro's class, a complaint reiterated by more than three students who spoke to Fox. According to the pupil, most of her classmates knew they had to align their political views with that of Piro to pass the course, or risk failing and being belittled before their classmates.  "I knew I had to change my political views just to please her and get a passing grade" she told Fox News. "She'd either yell or fail you, or make us feel small for what we believe in."

"She does often get political about Covid and how she thinks a return to school isn't safe," another student added, noting that Piro would often rail against former President Donald Trump's border wall and gun control policies. "Learning stops the minute this happens," her mother insisted to Fox News.

Parents made Principal Dawson aware of the troubling videos after becoming increasingly "irate" with Piro's conduct. Dawson vowed to address the issue. In a statement to Fox News on Monday night, the school district announced that Piro had been placed on administrative leave, pending investigation. School officials said they were "deeply concerned" about her behavior but vowed to uphold her "due process and privacy rights" during the probe.