Tyrone N. Butts
APE Reporter
3
Katrina Rucker
Check out the video at link October 21, 2004 - 11pm upper right hand corner!
Parent-Teacher Fight Update
Eyewitness News obtained a copy of a police report detailing a fight between a Bibb County teacher and a parent, a fight that happened in front of a class of fourth graders.
According to the police report, the parent, Lurella Amica, went to a classroom to take her daughter a note. She ended up in the Medical Center emergency room.
David Davis with the Bibb Sheriff's Department says first year teacher, 30-year old Katrina Rucker, is charged with battery and cruelty to chil
dren after a parent said Rucker attacked her in front of her daughter.
We went to the Medical Center to talk
to Amica, but she would not speak with us.
According to the police report, Amica says Rucker hit her from behind and then started punching her in the face.
Melanie Hofmann with Macon Police says Amica has been in the emergency room since the fight happened Thursday morning at Bruce-Weir Elementary School.
Hoffman says Amica has a broken nose and other possible head trauma.
The report also says Rucker kept saying she did it in self-defense. She said she would give a written statement but then refused to do so.
Bibb County School Superintendent Sharon Patterson and Assistant Superintendent Ralph Warren told us that about 20 children witnessed the fight.
School leaders would not say whether Amica had checked in the office before going to the classroom.
Several parents say they're concerned because a class full of children wi
tnes
sed the incident.
BRANDI STANLEY, PARENT:
"That's nothing that you would want your child to see when they're at a place they're supposed
to be learning at, and I don't think nothing good will come out of this if they don't have a stronger authority here at this school."
Bibb Sheriff's Lieutenant David Davis says Katrina Rucker had no prior record in Bibb County.
Patterson says she sent a letter home to parents, but she didn't want to provide many details with the fight still under investigation.
The school principal, Karen Konke, also sent home a letter, writing "let me assure you that the school is safe, and that our students have been involved in appropriate instructional activities throughout the day. As the principal, it is my desire that parents and teachers work cooperatively for the success of our children."
Patterson called the fight "an unfortunate, isolated incident" and says, when it comes to
school
safety, everyone should feel protected at school.
SHARON PATTERSON, BIBB CO. SUPERINTENDENT:
"We want our teachers to be protected when they're at school as well and having our teachers know that being a
t school is safe for them is just as important as it is for children, but it must also be safe for the adults who work in the school as well."
**
Teacher arrested after parent beaten in front of students
A Bibb County elementary school teacher is in jail, charged with beating a student's mother in front of 19 fourth-grade students.
Katrina Ann Rucker, 30, is charged with battery and cruelty to children after the assault at Bruce-Weir Elementary School about 8:50 a.m. Thursday. Rucker was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, school officials said.
The parent, Lurella Amica, suffered a fractured nose, a possible broken bon
e near her
eye and numerous bruises, Macon police spokeswoman Melanie Hofmann said.
Amica was in stable condition in the emergency room of The Medical Center of Central Georgia late Thursday night.
Bibb County Campus Police initially responded to the school but, citing a confl
ict of interest, called Macon police to handle the investigation.
Amica told police the fight was over her daughter's book bag, according to the police report.
In an interview with police, Amica said she went to the school to deliver a note to her daughter, 9-year-old Valentine Swarn. At the classroom door, the girl told her mother that Rucker had thrown her bag in the trash can, the report stated.
Amica entered the classroom and tried to retrieve the book bag, but Rucker grabbed for it and the two struggled, the report stated.
After Amica wrestled the bag away, Rucker picked up a chair and hit her in the back, knocking Amica to the floor, according to the report. Rucker t
hen began punc
hing Amica in the face and body.
During the fight, Swarn was crying for her teacher to stop hitting her mother and ran up to them, the report stated. Rucker then hit the child, pulled her hair and pushed her out of the way before starting to strike the mother again, Amica
told police.
Rucker dragged Amica by the hair outside the classroom, according to the report.
"A school administrator and another teacher had to pull the teacher off the mother," Hofmann said.
In Rucker's account of the story, she said Amica hit her hand during the initial struggle, Hofmann said.
"The teacher said she was defending herself because she gets a shot in that hand and it hurt," Hofmann said.
Rucker was in her first year in Bibb schools, said Ralph Warren, assistant superintendent for human resources.
"This stands out as an unusual event for me,&q
uot; Warren said.<
br>
He declined to say where she had been employed previously.
Principal Karen Konke, reached at home Thursday evening, declined comment and referred questions to Sylvia McGee, the system's deputy superintendent.
McGee said school staff called the parent or guardian of each child in the class. Social workers counseled students individually and as a group, and only Swarn left scho
ol early.
Konke sent letters to parents informing them of the confrontation and the arrest.
"Let me assure you the school is safe and that our students have been involved in appropriate instructional activities throughout the day," Konke said in the letter.
McGee said Macon police, not Bibb County campus police, arrested the teacher because "when there's a situation, especially involving one of our own, we tend to have external" authorities make the arrest.
The criminal investigation will take precedence over the inquiry conducted by
school officials, McGe
e said.
"Then we'll come right behind with the administrative part," McGee said.
*************
It's time to reconsider segregated schools, don't you think?
T.N.B.
Katrina Rucker
Check out the video at link October 21, 2004 - 11pm upper right hand corner!
Parent-Teacher Fight Update
Eyewitness News obtained a copy of a police report detailing a fight between a Bibb County teacher and a parent, a fight that happened in front of a class of fourth graders.
According to the police report, the parent, Lurella Amica, went to a classroom to take her daughter a note. She ended up in the Medical Center emergency room.
David Davis with the Bibb Sheriff's Department says first year teacher, 30-year old Katrina Rucker, is charged with battery and cruelty to chil
dren after a parent said Rucker attacked her in front of her daughter.
We went to the Medical Center to talk
to Amica, but she would not speak with us.
According to the police report, Amica says Rucker hit her from behind and then started punching her in the face.
Melanie Hofmann with Macon Police says Amica has been in the emergency room since the fight happened Thursday morning at Bruce-Weir Elementary School.
Hoffman says Amica has a broken nose and other possible head trauma.
The report also says Rucker kept saying she did it in self-defense. She said she would give a written statement but then refused to do so.
Bibb County School Superintendent Sharon Patterson and Assistant Superintendent Ralph Warren told us that about 20 children witnessed the fight.
School leaders would not say whether Amica had checked in the office before going to the classroom.
Several parents say they're concerned because a class full of children wi
tnes
sed the incident.
BRANDI STANLEY, PARENT:
"That's nothing that you would want your child to see when they're at a place they're supposed
to be learning at, and I don't think nothing good will come out of this if they don't have a stronger authority here at this school."
Bibb Sheriff's Lieutenant David Davis says Katrina Rucker had no prior record in Bibb County.
Patterson says she sent a letter home to parents, but she didn't want to provide many details with the fight still under investigation.
The school principal, Karen Konke, also sent home a letter, writing "let me assure you that the school is safe, and that our students have been involved in appropriate instructional activities throughout the day. As the principal, it is my desire that parents and teachers work cooperatively for the success of our children."
Patterson called the fight "an unfortunate, isolated incident" and says, when it comes to
school
safety, everyone should feel protected at school.
SHARON PATTERSON, BIBB CO. SUPERINTENDENT:
"We want our teachers to be protected when they're at school as well and having our teachers know that being a
t school is safe for them is just as important as it is for children, but it must also be safe for the adults who work in the school as well."
**
Teacher arrested after parent beaten in front of students
A Bibb County elementary school teacher is in jail, charged with beating a student's mother in front of 19 fourth-grade students.
Katrina Ann Rucker, 30, is charged with battery and cruelty to children after the assault at Bruce-Weir Elementary School about 8:50 a.m. Thursday. Rucker was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, school officials said.
The parent, Lurella Amica, suffered a fractured nose, a possible broken bon
e near her
eye and numerous bruises, Macon police spokeswoman Melanie Hofmann said.
Amica was in stable condition in the emergency room of The Medical Center of Central Georgia late Thursday night.
Bibb County Campus Police initially responded to the school but, citing a confl
ict of interest, called Macon police to handle the investigation.
Amica told police the fight was over her daughter's book bag, according to the police report.
In an interview with police, Amica said she went to the school to deliver a note to her daughter, 9-year-old Valentine Swarn. At the classroom door, the girl told her mother that Rucker had thrown her bag in the trash can, the report stated.
Amica entered the classroom and tried to retrieve the book bag, but Rucker grabbed for it and the two struggled, the report stated.
After Amica wrestled the bag away, Rucker picked up a chair and hit her in the back, knocking Amica to the floor, according to the report. Rucker t
hen began punc
hing Amica in the face and body.
During the fight, Swarn was crying for her teacher to stop hitting her mother and ran up to them, the report stated. Rucker then hit the child, pulled her hair and pushed her out of the way before starting to strike the mother again, Amica
told police.
Rucker dragged Amica by the hair outside the classroom, according to the report.
"A school administrator and another teacher had to pull the teacher off the mother," Hofmann said.
In Rucker's account of the story, she said Amica hit her hand during the initial struggle, Hofmann said.
"The teacher said she was defending herself because she gets a shot in that hand and it hurt," Hofmann said.
Rucker was in her first year in Bibb schools, said Ralph Warren, assistant superintendent for human resources.
"This stands out as an unusual event for me,&q
uot; Warren said.<
br>
He declined to say where she had been employed previously.
Principal Karen Konke, reached at home Thursday evening, declined comment and referred questions to Sylvia McGee, the system's deputy superintendent.
McGee said school staff called the parent or guardian of each child in the class. Social workers counseled students individually and as a group, and only Swarn left scho
ol early.
Konke sent letters to parents informing them of the confrontation and the arrest.
"Let me assure you the school is safe and that our students have been involved in appropriate instructional activities throughout the day," Konke said in the letter.
McGee said Macon police, not Bibb County campus police, arrested the teacher because "when there's a situation, especially involving one of our own, we tend to have external" authorities make the arrest.
The criminal investigation will take precedence over the inquiry conducted by
school officials, McGe
e said.
"Then we'll come right behind with the administrative part," McGee said.
*************
It's time to reconsider segregated schools, don't you think?
T.N.B.
