Syracuse City School officials say the district is committed to ensuring schools are safe, after a parent snuck past security at Lincoln Middle School last week and allegedly beat up a teacher.
Superintendent Anthony Davis said he’s never seen anything like it.
"It’s one of the worst things I’ve ever seen, because I believe it was planned," Davis said.
Officials say a student who got in trouble on Thursday, told the teacher "My mother will take care of this." The mother, 31-year-old Lynzina Sutton, went to the school Friday morning and snuck past security guards. At 4 foot 10 inches tall, she wore a hoodie to blend in with students arriving at school. In a classroom, she reportedly confronted the teacher, allegedly punching her in the face several times. The teacher suffered a concussion and several broken bones in her face.
Police were able to arrest Sutton, who now faces 2nd-degree assault and burglary charges, according to District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick.
"We are going to be seeking a state prison sentence for this woman, just so there's no confusion about that," Fitzpatrick said. "This is not going to be acceptable that this woman does not serve a substantial amount of time in a facility. She's given away a big chunk of her life for a completely, allegedly, idiotic act."
Davis said the incident undermines the district's anti-violence work.
"We spent the last year and a half trying to get our students to stay away from the violence and things that's happening throughout the city, and trying to make sure that we stay concentrating on education here in the district," Davis said. "For this to come to the door and happen just feels like we're taking steps backwards."
The district meanwhile is trying to assure the community that it doesn’t tolerate violence of any kind in schools. Davis said security will be reviewed following this incident, but doesn't think the district should be blamed.
"I think the lesson in this is how do we begin to make sure that these types of things don't happen?" Davis said. "Because I don't think the district should be the one in question here. It's what are we doing in our community that we can work together and these types of things don't happen."
