Teacher Who Crossed Picket Line Finds Classroom Items Damaged

The healing has not begun quite yet in the aftermath of the Strongsville teachers strike.

A Spanish teacher at Strongsville High School who crossed the picket line and returned to work several weeks ago arrived Tuesday morning to find some of her belongings had been moved from one classroom to another -- and ruined in the process.

High School Principal William Steffen said he is looking into it.

"I'm not sure we're going to find out who did it, but we're investigating it," he said.

Rumors of the vandalism swirled on Facebook throughout the day, with parents saying Maria Schleich was in tears when she found her property damaged. 

Here's what happened, according to Steffen: Some of Schleich's belongings, including paper wall hangings, were moved to another classroom during the strike.

On Monday, when teachers were allowed back into the high school, one or more people moved the items back to Schleich's classroom.

"They were rough with it," Steffen said. "Some of the papers got ruined."

He said he fielded a number of calls from parents on Tuesday, assuring them that rumors Schleich's classroom was trashed were not true and that the incident was being investigated.  

"It wasn't like people turned her desk over or anything like that," he said. "But it was wrong. They shouldn't have done it."

Police Chief Jim Kobak said early on Tuesday the incident had not yet been reported to police. 

Steffen said that at the end of the school day, he had Schleich speak with a police officer in the building. It wasn't known if a formal police report would be filed.