New Kensington-Arnold fires security guard accused of assaulting 5-year-old student

The New Kensington-Arnold School Board fired a security guard who had been accused of assaulting a 5-year-old elementary school student last year.

Lori Ann Waltonbaugh, 59, of Greensburg entered a negotiated guilty plea Sept. 29 to a charge of recklessly endangering another person, according to court records. She was sentenced to up to a year of probation.

Charges of simple assault and harassment were dismissed.

The school board voted unanimously Tuesday to remove Waltonbaugh from her employment with the district, effective Sept. 29.

Waltonbaugh’s attorney, Paul D. Zavarella, did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment .

New Kensington police charged Waltonbaugh on Sept. 29, 2021, after Superintendent Chris Sefcheck reported the incident at Martin Elementary, the district’s pre-kindergarten and kindergarten school, to police five days earlier.

According to the district, Waltonbaugh had been employed as a full-time campus security guard since August 2014. She was being paid $19.42 per hour under the district’s contract with the Service Employees International Union.

Waltonbaugh was suspended without pay, but the district did not disclose when that suspension started. The district issued a notice and statement of charges against Waltonbaugh, but she did not request a hearing before the school board.

In a criminal complaint against Waltonbaugh, New Kensington police said Sefcheck contacted police Sept. 24, 2021, about an altercation between Waltonbaugh and a 5-year-old student at Martin Elementary.

According to the complaint, Sefcheck told an officer Waltonbaugh had been called to remove the boy from his classroom because of outbursts and not wanting to sit at his desk.

But Sefcheck said Waltonbaugh handled the situation improperly, and some of the altercation was captured on surveillance cameras.

Police said, in the videos, Waltonbaugh was seen carrying the boy out of the classroom by his arm and leg before putting him on the ground until she grabs both of his arms and drags him down a hall to a stairwell.

The complaint says Waltonbaugh was seen dragging the boy into the stairwell, where she slides him against a wall and struggles to keep him under control as he tries to get away from her.

Waltonbaugh drags and slams the boy into the wall, then kicks the boy in the leg while he is on the ground, police say.

In a video that was 8 minutes, 33 seconds long, police said, Waltonbaugh had the boy restrained in some way on the ground for about 7 minutes, 20 seconds, at which point the boy gets up, grabs Waltonbaugh’s hand and they walk down the steps.