NORTH CHARLESTON, SC - A 14-year-old student pummeled a 52-year-old teacher in the face last week at Liberty Hill Academy, dislocating her jawbone and breaking bones in her face and a finger, authorities said.Neither the Charleston County School District nor the North Charleston Police Department publicized the incident.

The Post and Courier learned of the assault Thursday through a tip.Asked about the Aug. 24 assault, school district spokesman Jason A. Sakran confirmed that it had taken place."The student was arrested immediately following the incident," Sakran said.Sakran said that the incident took place not in a regular school but in a specialized program for public school students with severe social, emotional or behavioral disabilities.

The school is on West Enterprise Street in the Liberty Park neighborhood of North Charleston.According to a North Charleston police incident report, a police officer assigned to the program was called to the office at 2 p.m. for a report of an assault on a teacher.When the officer arrived, the student was being taken to an intervention room, the report said. Meanwhile, the teacher, described in the incident report as weighing 95 pounds and being 5 feet 2 inches tall, was in the nurse's office with injuries to her nose and right hand.

Police said the student is 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 110 pounds.The teacher told police that the student had become unruly with a teacher's assistant and was ordered to leave the room. As the student was walking out, he came up to the teacher and punched her at least five times in her face, the report said.The teacher said she raised her right hand in front of her face to try to fend off his blows. Her face and her hands were red and she had a small cut on the bridge of her nose, the report said.She was taken by Charleston County EMS to Medical University Hospital for treatment. Her attacker, meanwhile, was charged with second-degree assault and battery.

He was turned over to the state Department of Juvenile Justice.According to the police report, the teacher's assistant who witnessed the assault told police the student, who is black, used racial epithets as he left the classroom after having been pulled away from the teacher, who is white.

The day after the incident, the school district's crisis team was at Liberty Hill providing assistance and support for faculty and students, Sakran said. "The team visited every classroom to speak with faculty and students, and met individually with the students who witnessed the incident."School superintendent Nancy McGinley visited the teacher that night, Sakran said. "Since the incident, school and district staff, representing various offices, have been in close contact with the teacher, offering needed supports and assistance."

Source: http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/sep/02/teen-attacks-n-chas-teacher/

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