THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 15, 1995 TAG: 9504150288
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
A judge ruled on Friday that an I.C. Norcom High School student threatened to kill his geography teacher when she refused to sign a hall pass for him in October.
Juvenile Court Judge Robert F. Babb found the 15-year-old student ``not innocent'' of assault. He will be sentenced June 19 and faces a maximum punishment of commitment to the Department of Youth and Family Services until age 21. Short of that, the judge could sentence him to detention, community service, probation or the Youth Straight Program, Portsmouth's version of Scared Straight.
Charlotte Peters, a 15-year teaching veteran, had the student charged after the incident. On Friday, the student, whose name is not being used because of his age, admitted making the threat.
``I asked her to sign my pass,'' the student testified. ``She said, `No.' That's why I made the remark that I was going to kill her, because she got in my face.''
Peters told the judge: ``I felt very threatened. I felt fearful for my life.''
The youth, who waived his right to an attorney, awkwardly questioned his teacher, frequently smiling as he presented his own defense. His parents stood by his side.
The student has received home-bound instruction since the incident.
On Oct. 20, the student walked in and out of Peters' classroom several times before threatening her from about three feet away when she wouldn't sign his pass.
Peters said she was happy with the result of the hearing, in which three of her other students came to court during their spring break to testify.
``The system works. I wanted to let it be known that teachers do not have to put up with harassment in the classroom,'' Peters said after the hearing. ``It's very distracting. It sets up an atmosphere that's not conducive to learning.''
She said she thinks schools need better security.
``Teachers should have telephones in their rooms to call someone immediately,'' she said. ``In my case, there was no one around.''
Gail Cunningham, who represents Portsmouth and Suffolk for the Virginia Education Association, attended the hearing Friday and said she encourages teachers to take such cases to court.
``Students need to understand that when they say something, those words have meaning and will be interpreted in a literal sense,'' she said.
This school year, about two dozen teachers from Portsmouth and Suffolk have called her office alleging verbal and physical assaults by students, she said. The youngest alleged attacker was a fifth-grader who had threatened to bring a gun to school and kill a teacher.
VEA president Rob Jones confirmed that such problems are finding their way into the courts more often.
``In the past, school districts would be reluctant to encourage teachers to pursue criminal charges in these cases,'' he said from Richmond Friday. ``But as society has become violent, school administrators are becoming more willing to back teachers in these matters.''
In some cases, teachers are so troubled by the assaults that they seek psychiatric help, Cunningham said.
``You're looking over your shoulder at the grocery store, the mall, the movie theater, any place you go,'' Cunningham said. ``That kind of fear is intolerable. It can't be condoned, and it can't be allowed to go unchallenged.''
KEYWORDS: ASSAULT TEACHER STUDENT by CNB