A teacher in Forney, Texas, has been placed on administrative leave after duct-taping a 10-year-old to a chair and allowing him to be “punched and kicked” by his classmates.
Charlotte Johnson, the student’s mother, was alerted to the incident by the assistant principal at Crosby Elementary, where her son attends.
“The teacher taped my son on his desk with some tape and some students in the class started hitting him and punching him in the head,” the assistant principal said, according to a report by local station Fox 4.
According to reports, the incident is said to have taken place on Wednesday after the lunch hour.
“Okay it’s 3:28, 3:30, school’s out, why am I being told now? And she said, ‘Well, your son went to the nurse,'” Johnson said, describing her thoughts when she learned what had happened.
The school claimed Johnson’s son was “disruptive.”
“She then continued to say, ‘Well, he was just interrupting in the hallway,'” Johnson said.
Johnson said her son described how he was taped.
“I said how did she tape you? Are your hands taped? And he said, ‘No ma’am she taped me like this’, so he went around his waist and came back. I said ‘Oh, so she’s around your waist to the back of the chair.’ Did she tape it?’ And he said, ‘Yes ma’am.’
Johnson says that after the student was tapped, she was told the teacher left the room — and her son was defenseless.
“At that point the kids were left unattended, then the students sitting behind him started punching him and hitting him on the head,” Johnson said. “I said what happened when the kids hit you on the head? what are you doing Were you able to see anyone? He said, ‘No ma’am my hands were like this, I didn’t want them to hit my face.
“They said they recognized a male voice saying, ‘I’m going to slap you like Will Smith slapped Chris Rock,'” she continued.
A district spokesperson told the station that police are investigating the incident, but added that “there are two sides to every story.”
“The teacher has been placed on administrative leave,” the spokesperson said. “Forney ISD police are investigating. There are two sides to every story. We let the police do their due diligence.
Johnson’s attorney, Crystal Williams, was not pleased with the school’s response.
“No matter what a child does, when is it appropriate for a school teacher to reprimand them in that way?” Williams asked the station. “We want her fired. We want her fired.
