The 16-year-old faces charges; his Sickles teacher seeks treatment.
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK, Times Staff Writer
Published August 30, 2005
TAMPA - A 16-year-old special education student is facing felony charges for pouring a cleaning solution Tuesday into his teacher's water bottle at Sickles High School.
The ninth-grader, whom the Times is not naming because of his age and disability, was arrested on one count of poisoning the food or water of a teacher. He was taken to the county juvenile assessment facility, Sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.
Teacher Cortnie Iacovelli went to a hospital for treatment and observation. She could not be reached for comment. The student is accused of pouring Expo white board cleaner into Iacovelli's water bottle as she looked away. Iacovelli took one sip and noticed a funny taste, Sickles principal Jake Russell said.
After asking the class what happened and getting no response, Iacovelli called in the school resource officer, who investigated and got the student to confess, school district spokeswoman Linda Cobbe said.
Afterward, Carter said, Iacovelli got a family member to take her to a hospital. Russell said he expected to hear from Iacovelli or her family after she returned home. He did not know when she would return to work.
This is Iacovelli's second year as a teacher. Certified as a social worker, she is not assigned in her field of expertise. Russell heaped praise on the teacher for her dedication.
"She's extremely motivated to excel, and she's got a positive attitude," Russell said. "She really loves the kids."
Still, the incident illustrates a major problem in education today, said Jean Clements, president of the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association.
Hillsborough and other districts have trouble finding qualified special education teachers, Clements said, and as a result have to rely on novice educators, often working out-of-field.
"This points out the need for the district to provide an even greater amount of support, coaching, mentoring and instruction ... especially for new teachers who are out-of-field and teaching in more challenging classrooms," she said.
The school district safety office already warns teachers not to have drinks in their classrooms.
"They can be tampered with," Cobbe said. "This happens."
It happened at least twice in the past two years in Hillsborough schools. A Franklin Middle School student was arrested for putting Sanford Board Cleaner in her teacher's lemonade, and a Jennings Middle School student was arrested for putting window cleaner in her math teacher's soda.
A Zephyrhills High School student also was arrested last year for spiking his teacher's water bottle with window cleaner.
- Times staff researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. Jeffrey S. Solochek can be reached at 813 269-5304 or solochek@sptimes.com
