High School Teacher Assaulted By Students Twice – School May Have Lied About Police Reports. How Can I Verify What’s Really Going On?

Location: Virginia

I am a public high school teacher and I’m very confused about how two separate assaults by students and the resulting police reports have been handled by my school and law enforcement. I’m hoping for advice on how I can verify what’s actually going on and whether I’m being lied to or manipulated.

The first incident involved a student assaulting me. At the time, I was told by my school that the student had accused me of assaulting him and that he had filed a police report against me. I was basically warned that if I filed my own report, it could backfire and put me in legal jeopardy, so I did not file a report then because I was scared. Recently, a colleague who is in a position to know how things work and who I consider level-headed and honest told me that the student never filed a report against me at all, and that I was only told that story to scare me out of filing my own police report. This obviously upset me, so I decided to follow up. I requested a copy of the police report from the records office. After about a week, they responded and said that they do have a police report, but they refused to give me a copy, saying it was part of an “active police investigation.” This made no sense to me because my school resource officer had previously told me that he had recommended that no action be taken against me and that the magistrate agreed with that recommendation. This decision was made months ago, so I would think any investigation would be closed by now. My colleague has now suggested that the police only created or submitted that report after I made my records request, to cover themselves and make it look like everything had been handled properly all along.

The second incident is separate and involved a different student who assaulted me. In that case, I was the one who filed the police report. Later, I requested a copy of that report as well, and once again I was told I could not have it because it was part of an “active investigation.” However, when I followed up with the court months ago, I was told they had decided not to pursue the case. So I do not understand how there can still be an “active investigation” if the court has already declined to move forward.

I know this might sound messy or even paranoid, and I’m sorry if it’s confusing. I’m just very shaken and trying to understand whether I’m being told the truth. My colleague is generally not known to lie or exaggerate and has a good head on their shoulders. On the other hand, my school, including the school resource officer, has a reputation for trying to quietly handle or cover up things that might bring bad press. I’ve now been assaulted twice by students, and the way the reports and investigations have been handled feels opaque and inconsistent at best.

My questions are: Is it actually possible for the police to create or submit a police report months later, after the fact, in the way my colleague suggested? Can a police department legitimately refuse to give me copies of these reports by saying they are part of an “active investigation,” even when the school officer and magistrate have already decided that no action will be taken in one case and the court has already declined to pursue charges in the other? If I hire a lawyer, would they likely be able to obtain copies of these reports or at least more detailed information that I cannot access on my own? Are there specific public records laws, FOIA requests, or other mechanisms in my state that I should look into to find out when these reports were actually created or filed and whether my employer or the school has been misrepresenting things to me?