RUMFORD – A respected teacher at Rumford Elementary School was arrested Thursday on a charge of assaulting her estranged husband at his condominium in Bethel.

According Oxford County jail records, Mary W. Dunton, 46, of Route 232 in Rumford was arrested at 10:55 a.m. Oct. 26 by Bethel Police Chief Alan Carr and taken to the jail, booked and released.

Carr’s report stated he answered a complaint at 58 River Bend Condos and found Dunton and her estranged husband, William, in his condo. William had a cut on his face that was bleeding, and stated he wanted to press charges against his wife, Carr wrote. She told Carr they were going through a divorce, the chief reported.

SAD 43 Superintendent Jim Hodgkin said he learned of the arrest from a reporter Monday afternoon.

“No one has called me on this,” he said. “This is all news to me.”

Dunton, who has taught in the lower elementary grades in the district for about six years, has been out on medical leave for several weeks, Hodgkin said.

“She’s an outstanding teacher,” Hodgkin said.

He said he’d have to know a lot more about the matter before the issue would come up at a board meeting.

The next regularly scheduled SAD 43 board meeting is set for Nov. 6. A special board meeting was scheduled for Monday, Oct. 30, at which a presentation and discussion of a proposed Region 9 School of Applied Technology renovation and expansion project is the sole agenda item.

Board Chairwoman Linda Westleigh said Monday afternoon that she was not aware of Dunton’s arrest, either.

If the matter should be discussed at a future board meeting, it would be in a closed session, she said.