(Bartlett, TN) Thursday afternoon a mom walked into the Bartlett Police Department to file a report against her child’s teacher at Bon Lin Elementary School.
That teacher, Clancey Patterson, is a Special Education Pre-School Instructor at Bon Lin.
The unidentified mother said her 4-year-old daughter has been repeatedly pushed and shoved to the floor in her classroom by Patterson.
The mom says she only became aware of the problem last Friday after being contacted by the Department of Human Services.
She says two teacher assistants had been complaining about Patterson’s actions for months, but nothing was done.
No one answered the door at Patterson’s Bartlett home.
“I am just shocked,” says Rick Bowen, who lives across the street from the pre-school teacher and says she has two young children of her own.
His son attended Bon Lin and he says a lot is happening in schools these days.
“If it occurred with my kid, of course I would try to intervene and see what’s going on,” says Bowen.
The Shelby County School System has placed Clancey Patterson on paid leave while the DCS investigation is underway.
Now that a formal report has been filed with police, Bartlett P.D. will also take a look at what happened at the school and with a teacher responsible for the youngest of students.
“There is a lot of stress on teachers today, based on their job and criteria and everything going on around them. Let our system determine that and that’s what our system is for,” says Bowen.
A letter went home to Bon Lin parents this week making them aware of the situation.
Sources tell us the teacher has a history of these kinds of things and it’s been ignored when reported.
This time there could be some serious fall-out.