State Senator talks keeping schools safe after Oliver Citywide Academy teacher attacked
PITTSBURG (KDKA) — The Allegheny County District Attorney's Office wants to try a teen as an adult after he allegedly attacked and attempted to rape a teacher at Pittsburgh Oliver Citywide Academy last month.
In speaking with state Senator Jim Brewster (45th-D), who is on the Senate Education Committee, he said you have to find the root cause to make sure a problem like this never happens. He said the state has committed millions of dollars this year to prevent this.
"It's a tragic event from all perspectives," Brewster said.
He said a situation like this has underlying problems that needed to be addressed. Sources tell KDKA-TV that the 15-year-old student is 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds. He is accused of taking the teacher to the floor and getting on top of her. Sources added that the student threatened to kill the teacher if she kept screaming.
"We have to deal with what causes this kind of behavior. We can't just say it's just guns or we need more money. We need to know what is driving this," Brewster said.
He said the state issued $100 million to address mental health in schools. This includes more psychiatrists and psychologists. The House Republican Caucus says this is in addition to $100 million to address school safety.
According to Brewster, there needs to be more of an effort to establish student-teacher connections.
"Having a better relationship and an open relationship with students and their parents," Brewster said.
The student is accused of telling police "I'm sorry officer but I have urges," according to the school police report. As schools already deal with teacher retention and hiring issues, this situation won't help the problem.
"You're having trouble getting teachers now. You're having trouble getting school bus drivers. There's a reason for that," Brewster said over Zoom on Tuesday.
Both Pittsburgh Public Schools and the teacher's union did not comment on the school police report.
Pittsburgh Public Schools, in the meantime, extended remote learning for students at Oliver Citywide Academy for another week and announced new security changes for when students do return. They include a revised enrollment process requesting all documentation from previous schools, an additional security guard, two-way radios for all classrooms and separate entrances.