A Greenville, Mississippi teacher was reportedly caught on not just one, but two, videos hitting a special needs student and dragging her by the hair. The Greenville High School teacher has not yet been named publicly by the district, but the child abuse claims stemming from the now viral videos, are currently being investigated by law enforcement.
The first video of the Mississippi teacher and the special needs student appears to show a teenage girl being drug by her hair by an adult. The second video seems to indicate the adult hits the student more than once, WREG reports. The teacher appears to hit the student in the head with a coffee cup during the altercation.
The videos of the teacher allegedly beating the student appear to happen during a gym class. There are two adult staffers shown sitting by the door in chairs watching, but not educating or interacting with the students.
Shocking Videos Show Teacher Abusing Special Needs Student at Greenville High School in Mississippi https://t.co/dCD2vYJpFf
— Lily (@gossipnewzz) October 7, 2016
A Greenville Public School District representative held a press conference to address the backlash the Mississippi school was receiving after the videos were posted on social media. The Greenville district representative said that the entire district is “shocked” by the behavior of the teacher and noted it would not be tolerated, according to a report by the Delta Daily News .
The Mississippi school district representative also stated the beating and dragging by the hair of the special needs student is an “isolated incident.” Disciplinary action against the unidentified teacher will be taken once the Greenville Police Department completes its investigation. If the public school teacher has tenure and is not charged with a crime, she might very well be back supervising students shortly.
“We will operate in a manner that’s conducive to maintaining a safe environment. We’re not going to have any disruptions to that environment, and whatever actions that we’ve taken has been in line with that,” Greenville School District Superintendent, Dr. Leeson M. Taylor II, said.
Superintendent Taylor refused to answer questions about the current employment status of the teacher. She may be on either paid or unpaid administrative leave, as often happens when a teacher is accused of improper or illegal behavior in the classroom.
The Mississippi school district head also said he is focused on maintaining a “safe environment” at Greenville High School.
“We will operate in a manner that’s conducive to maintaining a safe environment,” Dr. Taylor added. “We’re not going to have any disruptions to that environment, and whatever actions that we’ve taken has been in line with that.”
Mississippi Department of Education spokeswoman Jean Cook told KZTV10 News that the state has also launched a misconduct investigation into the Greenville High School incident. Cook said the results of the investigation could ultimately lead to the teacher having her education license being either suspended or revoked.
A statement from the Southern Poverty Law Center said the brutal acts showcased in the video raise questions about whether violence might now be “normalized” at the Mississippi school.
Both of the viral videos appearing to show the Mississippi teacher beating and dragging the special needs student were posted to Facebook by a user named, Kesha Williams. The comments beneath the videos are scathing. Social media users from across the United States have weighed in on the incident at Greenville High School.
Many social media users are calling for the male teacher who sat by and did nothing during the alleged attack on the student, to be charged with a crime and disciplined by the school district as well.
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