A school should be a safe place for everyone who enters its doors. And when it’s not, it is the job of the school administrators and others in charge to make necessary changes. A teacher in California shared that one of her first grade students has repeatedly assaulted her, and the school has done nothing.
Her story began to circulate, with fellow teachers and parents coming together to support her. Now, they are all banding together to force the school district to step in and protect the teacher and students at the school.
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The alleged attack was not an isolated incident.
KMPH FOX26 reported that Madeline Cardoza, a first grade teacher at Frontier Elementary in Hanford, California, had been repeatedly beaten by one of her students. According to the outlet, the student gave her four black eyes and a concussion. And apparently, it’s not the only time such a thing has happened at the school.
The community is coming together to fight for protections for teachers.
The school community came together to speak with the school board and voice their legitimate concerns they have for teacher safety.
“What you saw online over the last two days and what you are seeing here tonight is representative of the support our community has for our teachers and students,” Pioneer Teachers Association President Alicyn Cawley said.
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The teacher is getting support from her coworkers.
“It’s incredibly sad that it took a bruised and battered face to bring attention to what teachers in our county have been dealing with quietly for years,” Monica Cano, a Pioneer Union School District teacher said when speaking to the school board.
Holly Pereira, another teacher who is also a parent, had been a substitute in the classroom, and shared a similar experience.
“I subbed in her class, and I was choked by my lanyard and punched in the stomach by a student. I had an immediate understanding of what was going on, and it wasn’t learning,” she said.
Parents voiced their concerns for the teacher, but also their children.
Parent Amalia Phillips believes teachers “need to protect themselves.” “You guys have done nothing for this staff. Teachers should not be assaulted,” she said.
Anna Marie Johnson shared her child’s experience in the classroom. “I had to ask him if he feels safe in the classroom, if he knows who the child is. And he said the child is still in class, that the child sits in the back of the classroom and that the child is not allowed at recess,” she said.
No one knows what will happen next.
Pioneer Union School District didn’t have any comments about Cardoza or the statements they heard. But parents shared that they wish communication was better between the school and parents.
“I feel like the schools should have addressed and notified at least the parents in the classroom in regards to the incident,” Johnson told KSEE/KGPE.
