MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Kingsbury Middle School teacher is under fire for allegedly assaulting a student.
Cathy Penna says she’s still trying to figure out what happened to her grandson about two weeks ago. The sixth grader told her that his science teacher slapped his face for talking.
Penna says school officials initially told her it may have been an accident. Two weeks later, she says Child Services says otherwise.
“She said she watched the video three times because she was so shocked,” Penna said.
The child’s aunt, Rebecca Carroll, described the incident as she understood it:
“So, she grabbed him by the neck, non-aggressively were his words. It didn’t hurt him. And she just walked him out of the library but as soon as she was away from what she thought was prying eyes, she hits him in the face,” Carroll said.
DCS confirmed there is an open investigation but that’s all they could say. Shelby County Schools said they’re looking into it.
Penna says at first she truly wanted to believe a teacher would not intentionally put their hands on her grandson.
“Children get mad and they do things and they don’t think of the big picture. But I was an advocate for this woman the whole time. I wanted them to find out the truth,” she said.
Penna says school officials told her the teacher was suspended for two weeks and is now back on the job. She says she wants the teacher fired.
“I hope that they get her out that school and they don’t let her in another school. She doesn’t need to be around children if that’s the way she’s going to treat them.”
Penna said her grandson has been moved to a different class.
