Pennsylvania: School Safety Monitor, Teacher Get Into Fight at John Harris High School
A disagreement between the teacher and school safety monitor escalated to a physical altercation in front of students in a classroom.
Image via Adobe, by klenger
HARRISBURG, Pa. – Two employees at John Harris High School are on paid leave after getting into an altercation with each other on campus. One employee is a teacher. The other is a school safety monitor.
The incident happened on March 13 at about 8 a.m., reports WGAL. It began as a verbal disagreement over a personal matter after the safety monitor unexpectedly entered the class that the teacher was leading. The disagreement then escalated to a brief physical altercation in front of students, reports Fox43.
Other safety monitors and staff members attempted to de-escalate the situation.
No one was injured.
Both the safety monitor and teacher were escorted from campus and are on paid leave. Law enforcement was not called to the school to respond to the incident.
The incident is being investigated by the district, and counselling is being offered to students and staff members who witnessed the fight.
In response to the fight, Harrisburg School District Superintendent Eric Turman said, “This is highly unusual. It’s not at all representative of our faculty and staff who take responsibility as role models for our students very seriously,” reports WHTM. He also said the incident was “entirely unacceptable.”
The teacher has been employed by the school for two years, and the security monitor has been with the school for seven years.
If you appreciated this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our FREE digital newsletters!
About the Author
Robin Hattersley, Editor-in-Chief
Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.
Related Content
Leading in Turbulent Times: Effective Campus Public Safety Leadership for the 21st Century
This new webcast will discuss how campus public safety leaders can effectively incorporate Clery Act, Title IX, customer service, “helicopter” parents, emergency notification, town-gown relationships, brand management, Greek Life, student recruitment, faculty, and more into their roles and develop the necessary skills to successfully lead their departments. Register today to attend this free webcast!
Who vetted the safety monitor ?