CMS Police: Too Early To Tell If Budget Cuts Contributing To School Assaults

The chief of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' police department said it's too early to say if budget cuts to security staff have contributed to two attacks that injured school employees.

The first attack was at Olympic High School just before the start of classes Monday. A teacher trying to break up a fight was assaulted by a student who punched him in the back of the head, leaving him with bruises and scratches.

The second came Tuesday morning at Myers Park High School, where a campus security associate was punched so hard in what police are calling an aggravated assault that he had to have surgery to repair broken bones in his face.

"All I can say is that he's in our thoughts and prayers, and this is not what we expect for any of our employees," said CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman.

He did not say whether budget cuts may have made it tougher on those security officers, but the lean budget forced the district to cut back the number of unarmed security associates in the system from 180 last year to about 120 this school year.

Myers Park used to have four, but now it has two.

But CMS Police Chief Bud Cesena said there isn't enough evidence to suggest there's a connection.

"I think it's too early to make that determination," Cesena told Eyewitness News.

Cesena said he does have the flexibility to move security officers where they're needed most.

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Butler

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6

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3

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2

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4

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3

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