Mother wants fired East Acres Head Start teachers charged with child abuse

March 11--The agency that runs the East Acres Head Start immediately suspended and then fired a teacher and an assistant teacher after a video recording confirmed the pair inappropriately handled children in the classroom, an agency official said.

Brittney Perry, whose two daughters attended the Head Start class, said Friday that she wants the two teachers charged with physically abusing her children, Raven Metcalf, 4, and Brooklyn Metcalf, 3.

Perry said the girls told her the teachers "were jerking them by the arm, pinching them and twisted their arm." The teachers also withheld food from her daughters and made them watch the other children eat, she said.

Perry filed a child abuse report with Decatur police Wednesday. Her report lists hands and fists as the weapons used in the abuse.

"I feel like this shouldn't be kept quiet," she said. "It shouldn't be swept under the rug."

Michael Tubbs, chief executive officer of Community Action Partnership, said teachers cannot grab a child by the arm or pick up a child to move the child.

"Rough handling of children is something we don't tolerate," Tubbs said Friday afternoon.

The teacher violated another rule when she punished children by withholding a snack, Tubbs said.

"The teacher just made a mistake," he said. "The next day, we suspended her."

The East Acres Head Start center has 17 children ages 3 and 4 enrolled, Tubbs said.

He said the agency reported the incidents to the Alabama Department of Human Resources, which licenses day care centers in the state.

Lainie Alexander, director of the Morgan County Department of Human Resources, said she could not comment on matters at the center.

A DHR minimum standards deficiency report filed after a Feb. 15 visit by a DHR licensing representative lists two deficiencies. The deficiencies cited are that "two staff members used food as punishment and handled children inappropriately by grabbing arms."

The report's column for the date the deficiencies were corrected says "Staff have been terminated effective 2/15/17."

The report is posted in the classroom as required, Tubbs said.

The agency declined Perry's request to view the video this week, Tubbs said. He said she was told DHR is now handling the issue.

"If she has a complaint, it's against them and not us," he said. "We did all that we were supposed to do."

Perry said Kim Dodd, director of children's services at Community Action, refused to let her watch the video. Perry said Dodd told her she would have to subpoena the video to watch it. Perry said she visited an attorney Friday afternoon to learn what are her available options.

The police report filed by Perry says the abuse occurred from Feb. 2 to Feb. 13.

Perry said Community Action contacted DHR about the alleged abuse Feb. 2. DHR contacted her Feb. 9 and she met with DHR officials Feb. 10.

"They told me my children were the victims of abuse at the East Acres Head Start," Perry said.

Perry said a police investigator is supposed to interview her this weekend.

The Police Department's Family Services Unit can either contact DHR to offer its help, or DHR could contact the police if it finds evidence that could lead to the filing of criminal charges, Robertson said.

Tubbs said officials became aware of a possible problem in the classroom when a staff member reported possible issues.

The teacher and the assistant were both immediately suspended after his office reviewed a video from the classroom and fired about a week later, Tubbs said.

"We termed it rough handling of children," he said.

Neither teacher returned to the classroom after the employee came forward, he said. Two qualified teachers replaced them the day the suspensions went into effect, Tubbs said.

Tubbs said agency officials met with the parents of the children attending the center and explained to them what happened and the actions the agency took.

"We've done our job," Tubbs said. "The classroom is stable. We regret that it happened."

He said the Perry's two daughters are the only children removed from the class.

"I'm sorry we lost them," Tubbs said. "I wish we had them back."

keith.clines@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438. Twitter @DD_KeithClines.

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