Exclusive: South Florida teacher under investigation after allegedly kneeing 6-year-old student in groin
MIAMI - A Park Lakes Elementary school teacher is under administrative investigation for allegedly kneeing a six-year-old student in the groin.
Only after CBS News Miami reached out, along with another community member during the March 12th Broward County Public School board meeting, was the teacher reassigned out of the school completely pending the outcome of the investigation.
"I am furious because nobody deserves to be treated that way at all," said Nikitra Jones, the student's grandmother.
On most days, she says grandson Nikilis loves playing football with his dad, dancing, and puzzles, but his world changed on February 8th.
She says that on that day, Park Lakes Elementary in Lauderdale Lakes told the family that her grandson had kneeled a student.
However, she says the school left out one critical detail of how the supervising teacher responded.
"One of the teachers at the school turned around and kneed him," emphasized Jones.
CBS News Miami reporter Joe Gorchow asked, "In the groin area?"
"In the groin," responded Jones. "Then she asked him, 'How does that make you feel?'"
She says they only found out what the teacher allegedly did when they asked their grandson why he hurt a classmate.
"He goes to say that it's OK because it was done back to me," said Jones.
Gorchow then asked the grandmother, "How have you helped Nikilis through this alleged encounter with the teacher?"
"I let him know that nobody else is gonna hurt him," she said. "And the next day, he was still going to her class. She should have been removed."
The family says it took until Monday, February 12th, to speak with school leadership in person and with the teacher in question.
"It bothered me because I saw fear in Nikilis' eyes, and then Nikilis started to hide behind us."
"The disciplinary dean when he asked her, what is it that you did? And she said I kneed him.
"That to be the first move that she makes... That's unacceptable."
We confirmed an incident took place after contacting the Broward School Superintendent's office on March 12th.
The statement to us said:
"The student has had no further contact with the employee in question. Additionally, the employee has not been alone with students since the incident occurred. The employee has been reassigned to a non-school site pending the outcome [of] our administrative investigation. We are committed to maintaining a safe and supportive environment for all our students and staff."
The office told CBS News Miami that the teacher had just been reassigned on March 13th after another community member and I brought it to their attention.
Gorchow asked the grandmother, "What do you hope Nikilis learns from this experience or takes away from this experience?"
"I hope he learns not to need another kid again," said Jones. "We are working with him. You understand he's only a six-year-old child."
The family told CBS News Miami the name of the teacher who was allegedly involved. We tried to reach out by phone and in person but could not reach her.
