A former Sitka School District teacher is being charged with assault for allegedly tackling a student. 

Sitka District Court arraigned 49-year-old Janelle Farvour Tuesday (2-4-20) on one misdemeanor count of assault in the fourth degree. Farvour pleaded not guilty to the charges.

On December 18, 2019, Sitka Police Department received a report that a teacher assaulted a student on the Blatchley Middle School campus. 

According to court documents, the student was using a deer call. Farvour allegedly tackled the student and punched him. The incident was captured by the school’s security cameras. The school district released a statement saying that Farvour was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

Superintendent Mary Wegner later confirmed, in an email, that Farvour resigned from teaching in the Sitka School District. The case is set to go to trial in April. 

And there were two indictments in January, both felony assault cases. On January 30th, a Sitka Grand Jury indicted 54-year-old Elizabeth Cropley on one count of assault in the third degree. According to court documents, on January 22, Cropley allegedly threatened her boyfriend with a large pair of kitchen scissors — a class C felony. 

The same grand jury indicted 40-year-old Matfie Herman Mccar Jr. on two felony counts of assault. On January 23, Sitka Police received a report that Mccar had choked and punched a woman.