NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — Latoya Tucker will never forget what her son Jaden told her when he got home from school last Thursday. He was talking about a teacher at Epes Elementary.
“(He said) ‘she grabbed me by my arm … then dragged me out of my teacher’s class into her class. She dragged me into the bathroom, threw me into the bathroom, and threw me against the wall.'”
So she took pictures of Jaden showing scratches on several parts of his body.
The school district gave 10 On Your Side this statement late Friday afternoon:
Newport News Public Schools takes reports of staff misconduct very seriously. Upon learning about the alleged incident involving a student at Epes Elementary School, school officials immediately launched an investigation in cooperation with Child Protective Services. The staff member involved in this incident is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigations.
The incident report says Jaden was a behavior problem that day. It initially mentions only scratches on his arm and chest and then acknowledges other injuries in the follow up four days later.
“You send your child to school one way, and you never expect for them to come back home the way he came home,” Tucker says. “So I was really mad.”