“Leadership is poor” | Covington residents react to arrest of school employees

COVINGTON, La. — Like most schools across the Northshore, EE Lyon Elementary School in Covington is closed for summer break.

According to police, shortly after the end of the school year, two educators, a teacher and a paraprofessional, were arrested.

Detectives determined that the two former employees had engaged in what amounted to battery on a vulnerable student.

Catherine Mumphrey, 44, and Lauren Brenckle, 71, were each charged with cruelty to minors.

In a statement, Covington Police Chief Michael Ferrell said, “We take allegations of child abuse very seriously and will thoroughly investigate such allegations.”

Police say due to the nature of the victim's disability, video from a camera in the classroom played a vital role in capturing what happened.

Details of the alleged incident and the student's age have not been released.

St. Tammany Parish School Superintendent Frank Jabbia said in a statement, “We took immediate and appropriate action in this situation and are committed to maintaining a safe and secure learning environment in our schools for all our students. »

Police say this case is not related to an arrest at the same school last month. That's when another paraprofessional was arrested after a complaint of cruelty to a minor.

“They need to crack down on anything that’s not going to educate our children,” said Covington resident Hermon Joseph.

Joseph's grandchildren attended Lyon elementary school.

He said the school district needs to clean up the school.

“Put someone in the position that can help these kids. They say three strikes and you're out. Three people. Management is poor.

Police thanked the St. Tammany School District for acting quickly to bring this case to light.

Covington police and the St. Tammany school district declined our requests for an interview.

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