NAACP addresses Wash High incident

The vice president of the NAACP Washington Unit spoke with Washington Mayor Brenda Davis about the police department’s decision not to charge a Washington Junior-Senior High School teacher who pulled an eighth-grader to the ground during a gym class last week, and he plans to meet with her and police Chief Chris Luppino.
David Gatling said Thursday he called Davis to express his displeasure with the decision that was announced Wednesday. The student involved is black.
“She’s willing to meet with me and (Luppino), and we’re going to reach out to the school district as well,” Gatling said. Through the school board, he wants to determine if the teacher’s disciplinary record is available to the public.
Washington School District Superintendent Roberta DiLorenzo could not immediately be reached for comment about whether she would meet with Gatling.
The 13-year-old boy tumbled into the teacher Feb. 10 after another student tripped him before a morning yoga class.
Luppino said the teacher reacted because of surprise and did not intend to hurt the boy. The chief characterized the teacher’s actions as “reasonable and justifiable force.” The boy’s mother, Rosylen Fedd, claimed the teacher “choke slammed” her son, who was in pain after the incident but suffered no serious injuries. The teacher, who had the wind knocked out of him as his glasses flew off, was suspended with pay.
Fedd said Thursday she was “very, very upset” when she learned Wednesday afternoon that Washington police would not be filing charges against the teacher, and that she immediately called Gatling. She said she asked the NAACP vice president “to take more steps with getting this man charged” and added it’s possible that she will meet with city and school district officials.
The eighth-grader is continuing to attend the school, but when he attempted to participate in gym class, his neck hurt and it had to be iced, she said.
“He’s moving his neck a lot better,” Fedd said of her son, who has a follow-up visit with a doctor next week. “He’s getting around.”
Fedd called her son, “My only one, my big boy.”
The Observer-Reporter is not naming the teacher because he has not been charged.