I am in my ninth year as a teacher in Arizona and have a question as to what my rights may be.
In early December I was put into a situation where I needed to address a student that was involved in an altercation with another student. When I approached the student and asked for clarification regarding the situation, the student took it upon himself to punch me in the face. I was stunned that this even happened but as i stood up to access the situation, the student stood up also and starting punching me in the face again. I took hold of the student by the wrists to stop the assault, and when I went to turn the student around to put the student in a restraint hold, the student bit into my upper arm. I asked the student to stop biting me, to avoid any harm to the student, while another adult stepped in to help me with the situation. Long story short - we restrained the student, the police came in and placed the student under arrest with the charge being aggravated assault on a school employee due to the fact that the student punched, kicked, and bit me to the point where the skin was broken and I have nerve damage in that arm resulting in the fact that I cannot feel the tips of two fingers on that arm
We later found out that the student was in special education and was previously placed in an alternative classroom for students with emotional disabilities in a neighboring school district. The student was new to my school and when the parent registered the student he checked (at two different times and at two different schools within the district) that his child had never received any special education services and was a regular education student (which I feel is negligent of the parent). The student was at another school in the same district but had recently moved into our attendance area resulting in the changing of schools. The previous school that the student was at in my district did not request records from the previous school (which I feel is negligent on my districts part), resulting in the wrong placement being made within the district.
Due to the fact that my district realized that he should have been placed in special education, the resulting consequence for this young man was a couple day suspension whereas a regular education student would have been expelled from the school. I know -long story - thank you for hanging in there with me.
My questions result from being a district employee that kept my original charges with the police department, charging this young man with a felony assault on a school employee and several misdemeanors for other actions that took place during the assault. I have been told by my district that I should drop all charges against the young man and just forgive him of his actions - that adults need to forgive and forget. I have a problem with this, as this student has a history of assaulting teachers who have not pressed charges and the same behavior has continued. I was also told by the Director of Special Ed that I should meet with the student and tell the student that I forgive them of their actions - which I politely refused to do.
Do I have any legal recourse against the district if I receive verbal or written direction from my supervisor as I do not plan on dropping the charges? I don't want any negative letters going in my file for not doing so and also for not doing what the Director of Special Ed asked me to do as I do not feel that it is appropriate. Thanks for your help.
In early December I was put into a situation where I needed to address a student that was involved in an altercation with another student. When I approached the student and asked for clarification regarding the situation, the student took it upon himself to punch me in the face. I was stunned that this even happened but as i stood up to access the situation, the student stood up also and starting punching me in the face again. I took hold of the student by the wrists to stop the assault, and when I went to turn the student around to put the student in a restraint hold, the student bit into my upper arm. I asked the student to stop biting me, to avoid any harm to the student, while another adult stepped in to help me with the situation. Long story short - we restrained the student, the police came in and placed the student under arrest with the charge being aggravated assault on a school employee due to the fact that the student punched, kicked, and bit me to the point where the skin was broken and I have nerve damage in that arm resulting in the fact that I cannot feel the tips of two fingers on that arm
We later found out that the student was in special education and was previously placed in an alternative classroom for students with emotional disabilities in a neighboring school district. The student was new to my school and when the parent registered the student he checked (at two different times and at two different schools within the district) that his child had never received any special education services and was a regular education student (which I feel is negligent of the parent). The student was at another school in the same district but had recently moved into our attendance area resulting in the changing of schools. The previous school that the student was at in my district did not request records from the previous school (which I feel is negligent on my districts part), resulting in the wrong placement being made within the district.
Due to the fact that my district realized that he should have been placed in special education, the resulting consequence for this young man was a couple day suspension whereas a regular education student would have been expelled from the school. I know -long story - thank you for hanging in there with me.
My questions result from being a district employee that kept my original charges with the police department, charging this young man with a felony assault on a school employee and several misdemeanors for other actions that took place during the assault. I have been told by my district that I should drop all charges against the young man and just forgive him of his actions - that adults need to forgive and forget. I have a problem with this, as this student has a history of assaulting teachers who have not pressed charges and the same behavior has continued. I was also told by the Director of Special Ed that I should meet with the student and tell the student that I forgive them of their actions - which I politely refused to do.
Do I have any legal recourse against the district if I receive verbal or written direction from my supervisor as I do not plan on dropping the charges? I don't want any negative letters going in my file for not doing so and also for not doing what the Director of Special Ed asked me to do as I do not feel that it is appropriate. Thanks for your help.
