School district holds first board meeting since Colerain HS teacher assaulted, hospitalized

By Chris Jacobs

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    CINCINNATI, Ohio (WLWT) — The Northwest Local School District held its first board meeting since a Colerain High School teacher was severely injured after police said was assaulted by a 15-year-old student.

According to police, it happened Thursday afternoon. The 60-year-old teacher is being treated at University of Cincinnati Medical Center with a severe brain injury.

The incident last week was brought up at Monday’s school board meeting, with one teacher even getting emotional about the incident.

A plea for change came from Nancy Slattery, Northwest Local School District’s newest board member.

“I’ve been praying every day since this happened for the Northwest School District, and I hope we can turn this around,” Slattery said.

Melinda Gutzwiller was with the school district for more than 30 years. She is now a former Northwest Schools teacher, who said she retired for her own safety because of incidents like the one last week.

“I just have a fear of being in the building,” Gutzwiller said. “There’s just too much going on with the students that are in the building and I don’t believe enough disciplinary action is being taken.”

Superintendent Darrell Yater said the district is taking the steps to prevent violence from continuing to happen in the future.

For one board member, this marks a moment that should be a turning point.

“Nobody needs to be in that environment,” Slattery said. “The people who were harmed or the kids that witnessed that, it’s gonna scar them and we need to change that.”

The student accused in the incident is facing charges of felonious assault. That student does not have a previous juvenile record in Hamilton County.

WLWT has reached out to the teacher’s union, who said it would not comment on an open investigation.

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