Teacher attacked by student

A 52-year-old teacher at Liberty Hill Academy suffered a dislocated jawbone, broken facial bones and a broken finger last week when she was pummeled by a 14-year-old student after he was told to leave her classroom.

Neither the Charleston County School District nor the North Charleston Police Department publicized the incident. The Post and Courier only learned of the assault Thursday through a tip.

A school district spokesman confirmed the assault had taken place and said the student was immediately arrested.

According to a North Charleston police incident report, a police officer assigned to the school, which is for public school students with severe social, emotional or behavioral disabilities, was called to the office at 2 p.m. for a report of a teacher having been assaulted.

School staff had already broken up the assault and the student was being taken to the school’s intervention room, the report said. Meanwhile, the teacher, who is described in the incident report as weighing 95 pounds and being 5 feet 2 inches tall, was in the nurse’s office with injuries to her nose and right hand. Police said the student is 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 110 pounds.

The teacher told police that the student had become unruly with a teacher’s assistant and he was ordered to leave the room. As he was walking out, he came up to the teacher and punched her at least five times in her face, the report said. The teacher said she raised her right hand up in front of her face to try to fend off his blows. Her face and her hands were red and she had a small cut on the bridge of her nose, the report said.

She was taken by Charleston County EMS to Medical University Hospital for treatment. Her attacker, meanwhile, was charged with second-degree assault and battery. He was turned over to the custody of the state Department of Juvenile Justice.

According to the report, the teacher’s assistants who witnessed the assault told police the student cursed at the teacher as he was being pulled off her.

SOURCE: http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20110901/PC16/309019918
Original Publication Date: September 1, 2011