ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Corrine Mundorff, a high school English teacher, has worked for the Rochester City School District for 16 years – and does not feel safe on the job.

What You Need To Know

  • RCSD is looking into ways to make its schools safer after a teacher says she was physically and sexually assaulted by a student during school
  • Rochester Police say they are investigating the incident
  • The superintendent also said that with the number of threatening and violent incidents increasing, it is imperative to include the police in the conversation

“I was afraid,” she said. “I was afraid for the students in the building. I was afraid for the staff in the building. I just needed support.”

Mundorff describes an incident she says unfolded during a school day at Franklin High School two weeks ago – when she says she was trying to protect a student who was being beaten by another student.

“The student who had attacked my student turned around, started screaming at me, shoved me and spit in my face,” she said.

Mundorff says the student attacked her as she tried to make her way down the hallway to look for help.

“And the student turns around again and shoves me,” Mundorff said. “Spits in my face. Screaming obscenities at me. I just continue down the hallway. I mean I’m not engaging the student. My number one priority is to get help.”

She says crowds of students started to gather.

“We made it maybe another 10 steps and the same thing — turned around, screaming, spits in my face and shoves me," said Mundorff. “And we’re talking shoves [where I was] slamming into the masses of students that are behind me videotaping this.”

The ninth-grade teacher says the assault continued.

“We go about 10 steps further and this time, the student turned around and instead of shoving, the student full-on grabbed my breast and fondled me for about 35-45 seconds, and then shoved me and spit in my face,” she said.

Mundorff continued, “The student turned around a final time, and grabbed my breast and fondled for upwards of a minute to a minute and a half, and did a final shove after that and spit in my face a final time."

She said help finally arrived, but the attack did not end there.

“The sentry, one of our security officers, did arrive,” Mundorff said. “The student escalated and jumped around the front of the sentry and punched me twice on the right side of the head. It didn’t hit my face. It caught more of the right side of my head and my ear, and then all chaos broke out in the hallway.”

A spokesperson from the Rochester Police Department says the incident is under investigation. The district says as part of its disciplinary practice, the student was entitled to due process and has received it in accordance with the law.

The Rochester City School District confirms there was an altercation at Franklin High School involving a student and a teacher and admits to an increase in acts of violence in and outside of its schools.

“Most of our students have spent the last 18 or 19 months in a completely unstructured environment,” Mundorff said. “And all of us, we were all woefully unprepared for the state that our students would come back to us. They’re traumatized from this experience. We need more social workers. We need more social and emotional learning. We need more support at the building level and everyone, everyone at the building level understands this. We are all united in this and we aren’t getting it. We need more support at the building level.”

Superintendent Dr. Lesli Myers-Small addressed the issue during her weekly video message.

“We are requesting additional school safety officers, counselors, social workers and other social-emotional supports through the federal government funding set aside to support student needs in the wake of COVID-19,” said Dr. Myers-Small.

The superintendent also said that with the number of threatening and violent incidents increasing, it is imperative to include the police in the conversation.

Officers are present during arrival and dismissal times at some schools. However, Dr. Myers-Small is not recommending a return of school resource officers in schools.

In the meantime, Mundorff is still at the head of her classroom each day.

“I am traumatized and I came back to work,” Mundorff said. “I came right back to work for two reasons: because if I didn’t come right back to work, I was never coming back to work. And I love my job and I love my students, and I came back to work because my students need me.”