A police incident report about a struggle between a Columbus city councilman working as a high school substitute teacher and a student over a cellphone has been forwarded to the Indiana State Police.
The battery report alleges a Columbus North High School student was asked to put her cellphone away April 13 during school by Councilman Frank Jerome, who was working as a substitute teacher at the school, the incident report states.
Jerome, 76, of Columbus, attempted to physically remove the phone from the student, which resulted in a brief struggle, the report states. No injuries were reported.
Jerome said Thursday morning he had no comment on the matter.
The incident was reported by a North dean to the high school’s student resource officer, who filled out a report with the Columbus Police Department, the incident report states.
That report has now been forwarded to the Indiana State Police for further investigation, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman.
The district released a statement indicating that a substitute teacher grabbed a student’s arm, resulting in the student falling from a chair.
“The substitute teacher was sent home and will no longer serve in that capacity,” according to the school corporation statement.
BCSC Superintendent Jim Roberts and Larry Perkinson, BCSC employee and student assistance coordinator, declined to comment further questions when reached Thursday morning.
