News 12 at 11 o'clock, March 11, 2010

AUGUSTA,Ga. --- Tonight News 12 is learning new details about a teacher injured in her classroom at Collins Elementary School back in January.

The student, a special needs teenager,was charged with aggravated battery and found to be an unruly child at a court hearing on Wednesday.

News 12 first aired the story about this attack back in February when the student was initially charged with striking this teacher. A school investigation shows that the teacher stepped in and tried to intervene in a fight between two special needs students in her classroom and was hit once in the arm and once in the stomach.

After the incident, the woman was then examined by a school nurse and instructed to see her doctor. The teacher has lost her unborn child. It is unclear in documents when the baby died.

"If someone jumped on you, what you are allowed to do is use enough force necessary to stop that attack," says Richmond County School Spokesman, Louis Svehla.

School officials could not comment on the incident but Svehla did share procedures that teachers should follow when placed in a dangerous situation with a student.

"You're allowed to use enough force to contain the situation," he adds. "You can not go above and beyond that."

In this case, reports show it was the teacher who was struck several times and the student who was out of control. The student was suspended for five days and put into the Southwest Key Tracking Program, which is designed to prevent more delinquent activity and self-destructive behavior. Children referred generally have emotional disturbances like aggression or self destructive behavior.

The injured teacher taught special education and may have been trained to handle classroom violence.

"Right now the teachers and the basic classroom don't get specific training," he says. "The special education teachers get additional training on how to handle those kind of things and self defense."

That training could eventually expand to all teachers.

"There is some discussions, with the department of safety of offering voluntary classes to teachers who want to come in and learn certain ways to protect themselves."

The 13 year old special needs student was charged with aggravated battery which is a felony. According to court records, the teen is still under supervision of the Key Tracking Program. There have been no charges filed by the teacher.