FAST FACTS:
(Bartlett, TN 11/17/2009) Trouble at home has bled into concerns at school after police put a teacher behind bars.
Police say Mark Polk beat his ex-wife in front of their daughter and right in front of Bartlett City Hall. The 51-year-old is a science teacher at Bolton High School. This is not the first time police have had to intervene in Polk's personal life.
Since December of last year, Bartlett Police have been called to the Polk house 11 times -- at least twice for domestic problems. In May, police arrested him for violating an order of protection. Then Monday evening, cops intervened again. This time, they found his ex-wife battered and bruised with "red marks on her arms and stomach" outside city hall. The couple got into a fight in front of their daughter.
According to the police report, the woman claims Polk said "he needed to give her something he should have a long time ago." Then, he hit her repeatedly. When she screamed for help, Polk supposedly said, "no one will help you, and my daughter... will not say anything." When questioned by police, he said that he was "unsure if he touched Zarah or not, but he knows he did not strike her."
Parents of students at Bolton High fear whether his problems at home bled into problems at school.
"What kind of disposition does someone like that have if they're a teacher and they can't control their temper," asks Tina Morra who can't understand how a teacher could be entangled in a violent home life, not long after domestic violence killed a popular teacher.
"After all that had just happened to Ashley Scott just a few years ago, I can't believe that another teacher would conduct themselves in such a manner," says Morra.
As news spreads that the second year science teacher is behind bars, parents now have to talk to their kids about domestic violence one more time.
"It makes them feel insecure that the adults are not even behaving themselves," she says.
Polk is on administrative leave from the school as this investigation continues. The Shelby County School District says Polk has not had any prior issues at the school. He will likely face a judge tomorrow morning.
- Mark Polk, 51, arrested Monday evening for domestic assault
- Polk is science teacher at Bolton High School
- Police say Ex-wife has "red marks onher forearm and stomach"
(Bartlett, TN 11/17/2009) Trouble at home has bled into concerns at school after police put a teacher behind bars.
Police say Mark Polk beat his ex-wife in front of their daughter and right in front of Bartlett City Hall. The 51-year-old is a science teacher at Bolton High School. This is not the first time police have had to intervene in Polk's personal life.
Since December of last year, Bartlett Police have been called to the Polk house 11 times -- at least twice for domestic problems. In May, police arrested him for violating an order of protection. Then Monday evening, cops intervened again. This time, they found his ex-wife battered and bruised with "red marks on her arms and stomach" outside city hall. The couple got into a fight in front of their daughter.
According to the police report, the woman claims Polk said "he needed to give her something he should have a long time ago." Then, he hit her repeatedly. When she screamed for help, Polk supposedly said, "no one will help you, and my daughter... will not say anything." When questioned by police, he said that he was "unsure if he touched Zarah or not, but he knows he did not strike her."
Parents of students at Bolton High fear whether his problems at home bled into problems at school.
"What kind of disposition does someone like that have if they're a teacher and they can't control their temper," asks Tina Morra who can't understand how a teacher could be entangled in a violent home life, not long after domestic violence killed a popular teacher.
"After all that had just happened to Ashley Scott just a few years ago, I can't believe that another teacher would conduct themselves in such a manner," says Morra.
As news spreads that the second year science teacher is behind bars, parents now have to talk to their kids about domestic violence one more time.
"It makes them feel insecure that the adults are not even behaving themselves," she says.
Polk is on administrative leave from the school as this investigation continues. The Shelby County School District says Polk has not had any prior issues at the school. He will likely face a judge tomorrow morning.
