CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Back to school can be an exciting, but anxious time for some teachers concerned for their own safety.
State numbers show more school personnel are being assaulted while at schools in Mecklenburg County.
Judy Kidd said she knows what it’s like to be assaulted by a student.
The former teacher said it happened during her 20-year stint as a classroom teacher.
“Putting her hands on me was too much,” Kidd said. “Charges were filed and she was excluded from NC public schools.”
State data shows there were 258 assaults on personnel in Mecklenburg County during the 2014-2015 School Year. There were 301 reported last school year, a 16 percent spike.
In 2016, a former CMS administrator was recorded in a fight video.
Annette Albright said she was attacked by students and in June she announced she was suing CMS.
Kidd said there are ways to prevent assaults on personnel.
“It needs to be a clear message that assaults on school personnel are not going to be tolerated,” she said.
Kidd said that message is lacking, and that there’s a place for tougher state legislation.
“There was a bill that was going through legislature that would have made it a felony for 16 or above to assault a teacher and that sort of stalled out. Is that the solution? I can’t answer, but better than we have now,” Kidd said.
CMS Chairperson Mary McCray said state numbers don’t always tell the full story.
“You also have to look at the number of children who may have emotional, mental or some kind of social problems of that nature,” McCray said.
McCray said the district had asked for more money to add 60 more employees, such as counselors, psychologists and social workers to help kids in need.
“We only got enough funding from our county commissioners to add six and we got it in our budget to add six more,” McCray said. “So we're batting 20 percent of what our needs are in this district.”
Kidd agreed that more school counselors are needed, especially to help kids in elementary school before they graduate to middle and high school.
Channel 9 checked state-wide numbers, which showed attacks on personnel increased as well, but only by about 4.5 percent.