A Head Start teacher in Brownwood was fired after she left marks on a young student’s face.
Brownwood Police were dispatched to a residence in the 300 block of Bluffview Friday afternoon regarding injury to a child. According to the report, the complainant stated that an unknown person at Head Start had injured her child. The complainant told to police that she was called by Head Start officials to come pickup her child as soon as possible. She arrived approximately 15 minutes after the incident had occurred and was able to see red marks on the jaw of her son which were the size of an adult’s fingers on one side and thumb on the other, the report states.
The woman told police that she was not told who the teacher was that injured her son. She was asked to sign an unknown paper and then told to leave with her son before the teacher was called into the office, the report states.
According to police, the incident occurred in a classroom where two teachers are present at all times. One of the teachers stated she did not see the incident but that she was putting down mats when the boy came up to her crying, tugged on her leg then pointed toward the other teacher and showed her his face, stated the report. This disturbed the teacher who followed policy and contacted her supervisors as well as the child’s parents, the report indicates.
Police spoke with the offending teacher who when asked why she grabbed the child’s face stated that she “sometimes grabs the face of a child to make sure they are paying attention.” According to police reports, the offending teacher’s employment with Head Start was terminated shortly after the offense occurred.
The mother of the child did wish to pursue criminal charges and BPD is currently investigating the incident, according to Assistant Chief James Fuller.
