ELYRIA, Ohio — An Elyria mom is facing assault and trespassing charges following an altercation at Hamilton Elementary School that saw her pepper spray the school's principal Tuesday following allegations of her child being bullied on the school bus.
According to a report from the Elyria Police Department, the incident happened Tuesday around 8:45 a.m.
The school says that as the principal was greeting students in the hallways, he noticed 27-year-old Jessica Houze arguing and yelling obscenities at the school’s assistant principal and another school administrator.
During the altercation, the principal attempted to close the doors when Houze sprayed him in the face with the mace she had on her key ring. She now faces two felony assault charges and a criminal trespassing charge.
The school district released the following regarding the matter:
It is absolutely critical to convey this message: Acts of violence cannot be condoned, especially on school grounds.
Here are the events of that day that led to felony charges for Mrs. Houze:
When Mrs. Houze arrived at the school, she attempted to enter an unauthorized door. She was swearing and using aggressive body language with Principal Huff. Huff was able to keep her from entering the school.
Houze told Huff her son was bullied on the bus. Neither Huff nor Principal Melvin were aware of a recent incident involving Houze’s student on the bus. Huff stated this to Houze and added that she would investigate and call her back. The entire time, Houze was swearing, using the F word, and moving aggressively outside the door.
Houze told Huff, “She didn’t care that she was pregnant.” Principal Melvin came to assist. Melvin told the parent, “we’re not having this here,” as he closed the door and he and Huff attempted to get the last students in and the other door closed. This is when he and Huff were assaulted with pepper spray in the face as seen clearly on the video.
I cannot discuss details of student discipline but there have been a couple of reports of past incidences with students on the bus in question. The situations were dealt with by school administrators and addressed by First Student.
The situation that Ms. Houze brought last Wednesday, that had NOT been reported to principals before that day, was investigated later that day after the principals were able to get back to work after the actions of Mrs. Houze. I do not have any details on the outcome of that particular investigation but if discipline is deemed necessary, it will take place.
Again, no act of violence can be condoned at school. This is a fundamental principle for the school environment, ensuring students and staff can interact safely at all times.
Since that incident, Houze, wanting to share her side of the story, spoke with News 5 about what caused things to escalate the way they did.
Houze said that her son, a student at the school, has been a victim of bullying both on the school bus and inside the school. She said her son has autism and isn't fully verbal, so she wasn't getting all of the information about the incidents because the school did not inform her.
"He got off the bus crying a lot because of the bullying," Houze said. "It was different incidents. It was incidents on the bus. It was incidents in school...I called the school, 'Hey, can you guys inform me anything is going on with my child?' It never happened."
The school has said the incidents of bullying had not been brought to the principal before the day of the altercation, but Houze said she had called the school numerous times asking about the bullying and trying to get her son moved to a different bus.
When nothing happened, Houze said her frustrations led her to go to the school and seek answers in person.
The school said Houze was attempting to enter the school through a non-authorized door. She says she saw the principal and approached him for answers.
"I saw the principal in the back. He said some words to me. We exchanged words. Actually, we both exchanged words. He came to me aggressively, and once he came to the door, that's when things got a little crazy," Houze claims.
Houze pulled her pepper spray when things began to escalate and sprayed it at the principal. During the incident, the school was placed in a modified lockdown that was lifted later that morning after police had arrived on the scene and things had cleared out.
Houze said she apologized for her actions being done in front of children but she doesn't regret the incident.
"Pepper spraying him, no, I don't regret it because I talked to him multiple times. I talked to multiple people at that school to try to get heard for my child and nothing ever gets done," Houze said.
Since the incident, Houze said the school has moved her son to a different bus and believes it took too much for that to happen and his bullying to be addressed.
"Just me being a mom and a mom who cares about my child. I just wanted them to reach out to me," she said.
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