An East Helena High student appeared to assault a teacher in school on Thursday, but that may be only part of the story.
The allegedly assaulted teacher has been identified by multiple sources as drivers’ education instructor Erik Pritchard, who has long faced accusations of inappropriate conduct and calls for his termination.
On March 12, shortly after the incident, which a bystander caught on video and shared on social media, East Helena Schools Superintendent Dan Rispens sent a letter to parents confirming the assault. Rispens informed parents that the teacher had been taken to the emergency room as a precaution and the student involved had been charged with misdemeanor assault and suspended.
He did not name the teacher or student or seek to explain a motive (see the full letter below). Multiple sources informed The Monitor that Pritchard, who also teaches Spanish at East Valley Middle School (EVMS), was the teacher who was struck and, as seen in the video, fled the classroom as his attacker gave chase.
The confrontation had been precipitated by the student observing Pritchard looking at his younger sister in what he viewed as a suggestive manner, according to a friend of the alleged student attacker’s sister. According to this second-hand account, the student approached Pritchard, accused him of the behavior, and repeatedly struck him after Pritchard denied it.
This account could not be independently verified, but Lewis & Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton confirmed to MTN News, in a report published Friday, that the student had been upset by something the teacher had allegedly done to his sister.
Dutton added that the student had been cited for allegedly punching the teacher multiple times and that his case would be handled in juvenile court, as he is a minor. The Monitor has chosen not to name the student, said to be in his junior year at East Helena High.
Local parents and students have been calling for Pritchard’s termination since at least August, when reports emerged of the teacher taking inappropriate videos of students, making lewd and suggestive comments and more.
In September, a group of Pritchard’s former students, backed by a petition with more than 560 signatures in support of his dismissal, protested at East Helena City Hall. As of Saturday, 900 people had signed, in a town of fewer than 2,000 people. The goal is 1,000 signatures.
Rispens confirmed last fall that the administration was aware of the accusations and had begun investigating. KTVH obtained records showing that a March 2024 East Helena Public Schools’ investigation found Pritchard in violation of the federal Title IX statute’s definition of sexual harassment. Pritchard sent KTVH a written statement asserting that the accusations against him were false and disruptive.
Following Thursday’s incident, Christina Aarnes, identifying herself as the student’s mother, launched a GoFundMe campaign to finance legal counsel for her son. As of Saturday afternoon, donors had given $1,560 toward a $4,000 goal.
“My son stood up for his sister and every other child in this public school that the teachers and school system are failing to keep safe,” Aarnes wrote in the campaign description.
On Saturday, in an event posted on the East Helena Community Facebook page, a group called “Save EVMS from Erik Pritchard” urged East Helena High students to walk out of their classes at noon on Tuesday, March 17, and march to City Hall.
“The school administration needs to be held accountable,” East Helena resident Keith Pigman wrote in the Save EVMS group. “This is not a random act but a build up that we all knew was gonna happen.”
In the East Helena Facebook group, Chloe Jasen Williams wrote an open letter to Rispens, saying that a student “made a choice that he will carry for the rest of his life in an attempt to do what you have failed to provide for your students.” Williams called on Rispens to remove Pritchard from the district “indefinitely.”
The Monitor will update this story as new information becomes available.
