Report: Substitute teacher under investigation at Midland Park elementary

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A substitute teacher is under investigation after law enforcement reviewed security footage of an incident with a student at a North Charleston school.

North Charleston Police, with the cooperation of the Charleston County School District, are investigating alleged abuse at Midland Park Primary School.

A police report states that law enforcement was called to the school on Feb. 23 and reviewed footage from the day before, Feb. 22. The school’s security footage shows the teacher “removing the juvenile from the classroom by grabbing him by his arm” and “at one point grabbing him from the floor and picking him up”, the report states.

The report states this happened after the teacher was seen pointing at the door, before the student laid on the ground. The footage showed the teacher offering a hand to the student, but they did not take it, according to the report.

The report states the student “started to throw a temper tantrum and knocked papers down.”

The report concludes “the juvenile’s feet leave the ground” and physical force is used to redirect the student. The report states a few of these actions violate the Charleston County School District’s Restraint and Physical force policy.

The substitute teacher has been placed on administrative leave, according to the report.

The Charleston County School District has provided the following statement:

District staff is aware of the incident involving a substitute teacher at Midland Park Primary last week. School administrators notified law enforcement about the matter, and we are cooperating with the North Charleston Police Department. We also informed Kelly Services that the substitute teacher will not work in Charleston County School District.

The substitute teacher is an employee of Kelly Services, a company that is contracted to provide substitutes to school districts. A representative for the company provided the following statement:

The safety and well-being of the students we serve are always our top priorities. We intend to cooperate with law enforcement and the school as they investigate this matter. Pending the completion of the investigation, the teacher has been removed from all assignments. As this is an active investigation, we have no further comment.

North Charleston Police say no arrests have been made and this is an ongoing investigation.

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