Posted on 05/17/2002 9:53:13 AM PDT by Temple Owl
Haverford teacher on ice after girl reports threat
May 17, 2002
By TIMOTHY LOGUE
HAVERFORD - A teacher at Haverford Middle School has been suspended and may face criminal charges after he allegedly pointed a starter's pistol at a 13-year-old student, officials said. Haverford police said the incident occurred shortly after dismissal Tuesday when a small group of female students who were engaging in minor horseplay entered the teacher's classroom.
The teacher, a male track coach, asked the girls to stop playing around. When they failed to do so, police said the teacher pulled the starter's pistol out of the pocket of his parka and pointed it at one of the girls.
Police said misdemeanor charges are likely. Officials are not identifying the teacher at this point.
"Everybody is taken aback by it," said Haverford Township School District spokeswoman Mary Beth Lauer. "Nobody wants to see something like this."
Lauer said the teacher has been relieved of his duties pending the results of an investigation by the Delaware County District Attorney's office and Haverford police. "The important thing is that there was no physical harm to anyone," Lauer said. "No one was injured."
Two faculty members who know the teacher involved in the incident told the Daily Times that his actions Tuesday were totally out of character.
"I would say that he used poor judgment," said Brian Smarsh, the father of an eighth-grader at the middle school. "I don't think it should be a career-ending incident but the students are held to a zero-tolerance policy. If a kid pulled out a starter's pistol, he'd probably be facing expulsion."
Last March, a 12-year-old who smuggled a BB gun into the middle school was arrested on school property and charged in juvenile court. He was also suspended.
The girls involved in Tuesday's incident were putting stickers on each other when the teacher asked them to settle down. Police, who were notified Wednesday, said another teacher entered the classroom at the height of the confrontation and escorted the girls out of the room. "This incident probably calls for some discipline -- you can't have a double standard between student and teacher -- but let's not do something totally off the wall," Smarsh said.
Lauer said letters explaining the incident were sent home with children. Counselors have been made available
No doubt, they seem to be laying around in abundance -- but does anyone ever go see them?
But the kids weren't members of a union.
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