An Ohio parent took to social media to expose her third-grade daughter’s teacher, posting that the educator assaulted and embarrassed the child while in class.
School officials say the teacher has been reprimanded but would not provide details about the staffer.
Brittnee Nelson wrote on Facebook on the evening of Tuesday, March 7, that a teacher at the William Bruce Elementary School in Eaton, Ohio, assaulted and embarrassed her daughter, Aaliyah. The school is one of only two lower-grade schools in the small town.
The school reportedly responded with an investigation, resulting in the child being moved to a different class and the teacher being able to immediately return to hers.
According to the post, Aaliyah had lost a piece of paper and asked for a replacement. The student reportedly saw a friend ask for a replacement sheet with no issue. The teacher is said to have not replaced the paper, believing the student had it somewhere in her possessions.
The educator, whom the mom lists as a Mrs. Mahan, grabbed the child by the neck and “dumped out” her desk and her locker, the mother wrote on Facebook. She also wrote that the teacher screamed at her daughter “in front of the entire class!” and led her back to her desk.
The mother added that after the teacher dumped “all of her pens, pencils, and things that wouldn’t even have this piece of paper in it,” she told the child, ‘You’re going to pick that up,’” as Nelson described to WHIO TV 7.
The experience allegedly made the young girl feel “sick” and “sad.”
Nelson also shared on social media that Aaliyah later “sat in silence for the remainder of the school day.” The mom said her daughter “was so upset she wrote in her agenda on the way home to express her feelings (which she has never done).”
A parent of one of Aaliyah’s classmates wrote in a post on social media, “Emmalin told us about something that had happened in her classroom. Her teacher dumped a little girl’s desk, bin, and then proceeded to unzip and dump her entire book bag all over the floor.”
This mother, whose profile name is Carey Joy, said she was told by someone at the school she was not the only person who called in reference to the incident.
Nelson said she contacted the principal and superintendent of Eaton Community Schools, but they were already aware and had dealt with the teacher.
“I was told she has been reprimanded, but they couldn’t share what that was,” she wrote.
According to the mother, officials conducted an internal investigation involving the teacher and six student witnesses to the incident.
“Three of them matched exactly Aaliyah’s statement,” Nelson wrote. “The other three all said she dumped all of her things but didn’t see all of it.”
Officials told the mother the teacher was reminded of the school’s policy on touching children.
The teacher allegedly admitted to “touching” Aaliyah and “removing things” in an attempt to make the student look for the lost paper.
She noted, however when she touched the student, “it was a guided hand to take her back to her seat.”
Superintendent Jeff Parker released a comment on Friday, March 10, about the incident, stating, “We are aware of the situation.”
“We have investigated the facts and have addressed accordingly,” he said. “Beyond that, we do not comment on personnel issues that do not rise to the level of discipline.”
Nelson said she was shocked by the ordeal and wishes the teacher would have gone through some “anger management” or taken “some time off” before being able to return to class.
Social media user Bobby Wininger shared his take on the incident on Facebook. “These are the people that are supposed to make our kids feel safe and lead them to a better future instead this has happened unfortunately the superintendent and principal seem to think it’s not a big deal the teacher should had been fired on the spot.”
