THREATENING EMAILS FROM an individual seeking a trustee seat in San Jose’s largest school district has the community on edge.
Rami Gideoni, a parent of a child in the San Jose Unified School District, started sending menacing emails last year to the board of trustees after its decision to end the Middle College program. The unique program offered high school students the ability to simultaneously take courses at local community colleges for free.
Gideoni, 57, is one of three candidates running for the open seat in District 5 at SJUSD. He has no campaign website and is a first-time candidate. He told San José Spotlight the loss of the Middle College program played a part in him running for office.
Gideoni voiced his anger to board members through several emails.
“Dead or alive, I’m going to make sure you will pay for your decision to cancel the Middle College program and for your refusal to help me to find alternative solution for my son,” Gideoni stated in an email sent last July.
In another email sent last August, he said he was going to pray for “evil forces” to “take revenge” to “harm your children, parents, yourself and any other member of your extended family.”
“As I learned recently, my life expectancy is short. I made the proper arrangements that your evil will not go unpunished,” Gideoni wrote.
In an email sent last August, Gideoni said he was going to pray for ‘evil forces’ to ‘take revenge’ to ‘harm your children, parents, yourself and any other member of your extended family.’
Due to the threats the board and district received from Gideoni, SJUSD filed a temporary restraining order against him last August. It expired this August.
“(The board) let their imaginations run wild, creating scenarios in which they are being attacked by a 7-foot commando,” Gideoni told San José Spotlight. “I’m vegan, pacifist, never owned a weapon, never involved with the law, weigh 160 pounds, little over 5’5”, half blind, half deaf and suffer from knee and back issues.”
‘His language … continues to be unacceptable’
One board member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they had sleepless nights and had to change their family’s routines because they were afraid of what Gideoni would do.
“I’m just disappointed that people like Rami chip away at our democracy when they threaten others,” they told San José Spotlight. “We can disagree on policy and political views, but his language was and continues to be unacceptable. His actions wouldn’t be allowed if he were a student, let alone as a board member.”
The end of the Middle College program reignited parents’ transparency concerns over the district’s decision-making process, as families, including Gideoni, previously told San José Spotlight they were unaware of the decision until they tried to unsuccessfully enroll their children in the program.
A June Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury report revealed the school district is adrift and plagued with leadership and safety issues. The report echoes a district survey done last year, and notes high turnover of administrators, lack of mental health services and gaps in campus safety plans.
Carla Collins, a trustee for District 3, said Gideoni is unfit to be a school board member.
“Anyone who threatens the safety of children should be held accountable, and such behavior reflects poorly on their ability to serve as a leader in our community,” Collins told San José Spotlight. “We need leaders who seek constructive solutions, even in disagreement, rather than turning to harmful and dangerous behavior. Our students and community deserve better.”
Members of the community have also expressed their fears around Gideoni’s comments and posts in a Facebook group dedicated to SJUSD issues.
“My vote will be for a candidate who has spent their time as a candidate listening, learning, and showing up for the community, not attacking the other candidates and making online threats,” one member of the group told San José Spotlight.
Contact Joyce Chu at joyce@sanjosespotlight.com or @joyce_speaks on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This story originally appeared in San Jose Spotlight.