Police: South Elgin High School student threw bleach on another student

A South Elgin High School student was charged with battery after she was accused of throwing bleach on another student that also splashed onto staff members.

The incident happened at about 6:50 a.m. Wednesday at the school, 760 E. Main St., South Elgin, when two female students got into a fight over a social media post, South Elgin Police Sgt. Mike Doty said in a news release.

Authorities say a 14-year-old girl brought a water bottle filled with bleach, opened it and threw the contents onto a 15-year-old girl. The 15-year-old had no reported injuries, Doty said.

Three school staff members tried to stop the altercation; two of them got bleach on their faces and one suffered an upper body injury, Doty said. All three were taken to Presence St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin and were treated and released.

The 14-year-old was charged with one count of aggravated battery and one count of misdemeanor battery, he said.

"South Elgin police would like to remind all parents and guardians to speak with and be involved with their children about issues happening on social media," Doty said. "Educate them on the dangers of taking matters into their own hands and the repercussions that could happen when they act out of something that occurred on social media."

John Heiderscheidt, Elgin Area School District U-46 director of school safety and culture, said officials are working closely with the injured employees to help them return to work once they have been cleared by medical professionals.

The 14-year-old's actions violate school board policy and the Student Code of Conduct and will be dealt with accordingly, he said.

"Part of our interventions are restorative practices," Heiderscheidt said. "There is no such thing as an automatic expulsion. Zero tolerance is against the law in Illinois. We assess the factors in student discipline situations ... we consider the health of the individual, the academics, the peer factors, any bullying factors, prior experiences in our discipline or our academic institution, prior experiences or exposure to trauma ... looking at the totality of circumstances."

Heiderscheidt said while officials don't monitor all students' social media activities, if they become aware of students threatening each other on social media, even if it is outside of the school day, they try to intervene.

"I don't know that we had any prior information that suggested that this was going to happen," he said. "The call to action to the community, and to parents, is, if you are aware of something, please say something. We are here to help with those situations ... we are here to try to have a restorative conference and try to put people back together so kids can work out this conflict without leading to violence."