70 attacks alleged against DCPS staff While there were dozens of cases of teachers attacking students last year, there were also 70 allegations of student assaults against D.C. Public Schools staffers, officials said.
In the 2010-2011 school year, 48 alleged assaults were committed against teachers or administrators. In 16 cases the victims were staffers. In six other incidents the victims were law enforcement officers tasked with patrolling the schools.
There are 6,500 D.C. Public Schools teachers, principals and other staffers. The student body numbers some 45,000.
Nathan Saunders, president of the Washington Teachers’ Union, said D.C. Public Schools should be more open about the numbers of assaults occurring on campus, because he had not seen a breakdown and could not confirm that they were accurate.
In June, Saunders wrote a letter to Mayor Vincent Gray, Chancellor Kaya Henderson and other school officials describing a Springarn Senior High School teacher attacked so violently by a student that she “will likely need reconstructive surgery to repair the damage done to her face.”
Springarn’s principal accused Saunders of exaggerating; Saunders says the teacher did not come to him directly, so he cannot be certain about the extent of the damage, but that other teachers at Springarn described the incident as that gruesome.
He said he believed some teachers — though not specifically in this case — are discouraged by their principals from reporting attacks by students, making it appear there are fewer than there are.
“There’s under-the-table stuff,” Saunders said. ” ‘Well, Miss, if you don’t report this, we can make sure your [annual] evaluation is good, and we can make sure you get the rest of the year off.’ ”
Officials in D.C. Public Schools were not available to comment on the assaults. They did not provide data on the number of assaults by students in previous years.
– Lisa Gartner
