Extra counselors will be on hand at a West Virginia middle school today after an eighth-grade teacher was charged with killing his girlfriend and her 4-year-old son.

James Louis DeGasperin, 35, a health and physical education teacher at Bruceton School in Bruceton Mills, W.Va., was held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail without bond after being arrested early yesterday at his home in Pleasantdale, a subdivision of Kingwood, W.Va.

Preston County Prosecutor Mel Snyder released a statement saying that a call was received at the Preston 911 center early yesterday "indicating that a murder might have occurred at the DeGasperin residence."

Police found the bodies of the woman and her son several hundred yards from the house. The victims, who were not identified pending notification of next of kin, died of "substantial blunt force trauma to the head."

"Other evidence obtained indicates that James DeGasperin caused their wounds," Mr. Snyder said.

According to John Lofink, superintendent of Preston County Schools, Mr. DeGasperin, a native of Kingwood, was a teacher at Bruceton School for more than eight years, the first year or so as a substitute. There had been no reports of trouble before, he said.

The 4-year-old boy had been enrolled in the school's prekindergarten, but the mother had no connection to the school.

"From what I understand," Mr. Lofink said, "this was entirely a domestic matter that had no connection to the school system."

Mr. Lofink said the school system was preparing a statement to be released today outlining the terms of Mr. DeGasperin's suspension.

The mood at the school yesterday was calm, Mr. Lofink said, although officials made sure that all outer doors were locked except those at the entrance nearest the main office. He said the school principal and teachers discussed the matter, but no additional steps were taken because news of the incident had not been released by authorities.

Today, he said, the extra counselors will be on hand.

"We've already had one or two parents who called in shock, basically, because their son or daughter really looked up to this individual and can't seem to understand what happened," he said.