My thoughts - for whatever they are worth!

Well, it sounds to be as if the police now have the opportunity for a positive ID on the suspect. Your wife should share this information with the police, and press formal charges. The school can also address this issue - since it happened on school property - for disciplinary action. A suspension -or expulsion- for the student could be a possibility.
However, as the teacher, she now has a credibility problem. She did state that she would pay a $200 reward for the return of the purse - and it was returned - and the whole class knows it. Although it was not in tact - she is still going to have to deal with the ramifications of that statement - and not violate privacy, safety, and protection issues of the student who will be charged, or the student who named the suspect. Also your wife' possibly has some privacy, protection, and safety needs which must be addressed. I am fairly sure the school will get District counsel - or risk management - or some higher level administrator involved. If she belongs to the union - she will be afforded legal counsel-contact them now! They would be able to give the best guidance .
I wish the best for you and your wife. I am sure she feels quite violated and betrayed. I wish I could say that incidents of theft in schools like this were unusual, but sadly they are not.
She needs to inform her principal of all the details of this situation immediately!! She will have to follow whatever procedural guidelines as directed. This has the potential to turn into a larger school incident if not properly addressed. Believe me, students have very strong communication networks.
How is your wife doing?
I hope this helps you. These are just some likely scenarios. No guarantees! Each school district has their own procedures for handling a matter such as this.
Good luck!
Please stay in touch!

robert, I would think that if there's a witness to the original theft, and a report has been filed, then the police should interview the person accused. It would seem like he'd be hard pressed to come up with any plausible excuse for "just happening to know what your wife's purse looked like and where it could be found in less than a minute."

Since theft is a criminal act, I imagine there would be a trial date, and they'd probably subpoena the female student witness to testify about seeing the male take the purse. That could be uncomfortable for the young girl, I'm sure. If the guy is found guilty, the judge could impose financial restitution be paid to your wife for the missing items, but it might only be the amount of your insurance deductible, figuring the rest of the amount would be paid by it. (This info comes from my bro-in-law, who's a lawyer.)

You could also post your questions on www.lawguru.com, to see if they say anything else.

Trooper,
The teacher who was robbed is my spouse. Her purse was stored in her classroom's closet. Prior to this incident, my wife had been trying unsuccessfully to get Building Services to come to her classroom and install a lock on that closet's door. Just a few days after the theft, a lock of sorts was finally installed as requested by the teacher.

Since I submitted my original question (see above), my wife decided to address that class and to offer a $200 cash reward for the return of her handbag with its contents intact. She had no sooner uttered this offer out loud than one of the male students in the class stood up and said, " I think I know where your handbag might be." With that said, that student scampered out of the classroom. He returned in just over 1 minute, carrying the missing handbag. In offering it to the teacher, he loudly asked her, "When do I get my $200? My wife replied, "in a few days."
Later, she examined the contents of her purse and found a number of items missing, including: her new Motorola "Q" PDA; the cash that had been in her wallet; several Debit and Credit cards; two checkbooks; and several other valuables which she has since inventoried in detail.

That afternoon, one of the other students in that computer class informed my wife that she (i.e., the female student) had witnessed the boy who returned the handbag actually taking it out of the closet while the class was leaving the room for lunch period.

The question now, Trooper, remains the same, viz., what are the proper actions for my wife to take in this matter? She has reported the theft in detail to Building Security and to the Philadelphia Police.

Robert F. Galante
rfgalante@hotmail.com

As trooper said, what you do likely depends on on whether you're a friend of the student who took the purse, or a parent, or an administrator at the school. (I'm guessing this was more than just a senior prank?) If the student who stole the purse was identified, I would expect police charges to be filed by the teacher, especially if it wasn't returned with everything intact. I would also expect the student to be suspended, or sent to an alternative school. If the student has a documented learning disability where it can be shown that the action was a manifestation of that disability, it may be handled differently. Lots of variables.....

Robert 7241. Are you asking as a parent? Your role varies depending on your relationship with the student.
Also, it is important to determine if you have all the facts. Is there more you can tell us?