Belle Vernon students, staff coping with teacher's death
Inside the Classroom: History Day Competition
Students at Belle Vernon Area Middle School will compete alongside students in grades six through 12 from across the region at the National History Day Competition held at the Heinz History Center in March. Students explained their projects and shared why studying history is important to them.
Crisis counselors are available to students at Belle Vernon Area High School to help them cope with the death of a popular teacher, who committed suicide after a student accused him of inappropriately touching her.
“One of our high school teachers, David Mills, passed away (Monday) evening unexpectedly. He was a great teacher who cared for many students and we will miss him greatly,” officials said in notice posted on the school district's website. The district serves Fayette and Westmoreland counties.
Mills, 51, was found dead in the garage of his Forward Township home about 10 p.m. Monday, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office, which ruled his death a suicide. He died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to the medical examiner.
Mills' attorney, Charles LoPresti, said the teacher's body was discovered by his wife, District Judge Beth Scagline Mills, whose office is in Elizabeth.
LoPresti said Mills took his own life after school officials informed him that he was being suspended with pay from his job as a math teacher after a female student accused him of touching her inappropriately last summer in Elizabeth.
School officials told Mills that the Office of Children, Youth and Families was investigating the accusation, LoPresti said.
“We spoke at length on Monday, and he categorically denied having any kind of inappropriate contact with children,” LoPresti said. “He couldn't even provide me with a single instance in which something unusual happened or if he said something that upset a child or made them feel uncomfortable.”
LoPresti said Mills did tutoring and gave private piano lessons in his home during the summer and occasionally paid kids to cut grass and do other chores around the house.
District officials did not provide Mills with specifics about the accusation made against him or the identity of his accuser, LoPresti said.
“I told him it would be smart to contact the attorney for the teachers union to learn more about the process, and I assured him that I would do whatever I could to help him and we would deal with this together,” LoPresti said. “I was shocked when I learned about what happened.”
Tony LaRussa is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-772-6368, tlarussa@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TonyLaRussaTrib.
