YORKTOWN, Va. — A Grafton High School teacher is facing a misdemeanor charge after she allegedly assaulted a 14-year-old student.
York County Schools said the student reported the incident on December 1 and that the teacher had made "inappropriate physical contact" with the student earlier in the week.
Child Protective Services and the York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office were notified and following an investigation, deputies charged 59-year-old Karmon Weidlich of Hampton with a misdemeanor count of simple assault.
Officials with YPSO stated that in the alleged incident, Weidlich allegedly grabbed and pulled down on a student's hair.
"Obviously this situation is unsettling, as a school board member and mom. It's a situation where we have 2,000 employees and about 900 teachers and they do a great job day-in and day-out. So if one adult makes a poor choice it reflects poorly on the whole division and teaching in general," Laurel Garrelts said, Chair of the York County School Board.
The school division also placed Weidlich on administrative leave.
“It is absolutely unacceptable for these types of incidents to be occurring,” Superintendent Dr. Victor Shandor said in a news release Monday. “As I shared in my remarks at the November School Board meeting, our most important responsibility as a school system is to provide safe, secure, and caring environments for all students. These incidents are not reflective of our division’s core values and priorities which we expect all employees to uphold.”
This is the third incident in the past month where teachers in York County allegedly assaulted students.
A former colleague of Weidlich's told 13News Now that this is "out of character" for the educator, calling her "phenomenal" and "kind." The mother of a current student of Wiedlich's reiterated that this was "very out of character" to hear.
Warren Hyde, a former substitute teacher at Grafton Middle School, is accused of assaulting a 12-year-old special needs student on November 2. Hyde faces three charges, including cruelty to a child.
Then on November 17, authorities said Elizabeth Anne Sparr was charged with one count of assault and battery on a 6-year-old special needs student at Mt. Vernon Elementary School.
Superintendent Shandor announced at a November 20 school board meeting that multiple actions were being taken, including a joint training exercise with the sheriff's office for all principals and leadership team members, a directive to all staff to participate in a review session of appropriate interactions with students and mandatory reporting requirements, and the creation of a task force that aims to evaluate the division’s policies and practices.
The YPSO is the leading agency into the matter, per Garrelts.
“It’s turned over to the sheriff’s office and we place the staff member on leave. That’s what policy dictates, we wait for the sheriff’s department to do their full investigation.”