A New Jersey teacher was reportedly suspended last week, accused of holding a 4-year-old boy upside down by his ankles and leaving him with cuts and bruises across his body.
Devena Wilkins has since pulled her son, Daylan, who has autism, from the South Orange-Maplewood school system amid the fallout of the March 27 incident at the Montrose pre-k school.
"He was held upside-down by his ankles, by a teacher," Wilkins said.
The school's principal called his mother following the incident to say her son had bit one of the teachers, landing the boy in timeout. When that was over, Wilkins said his teacher "went back over to him and he kicked his legs up towards her and that's when she had the chance to grab him by both of his ankles and hold him up in the air."
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"And apparently he was up in the air for at least 15 seconds when an aide came over and said 'I’ll take it from here,'" Wilkins added.
Photos show the bruises Wilkins says her son suffered following the classroom incident. Daylan was taken out of school after that.
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"Daylan will not be returning to Montrose. I hope that at least district will be able to provide home schooling because I do not trust anyone with my son at this time," his mother said.
The school district says it is cooperating with the appropriate authorities but can’t comment further due to confidentiality rules for the student and personnel matters.
The Wilkins family says it has been told by the principal that the teacher in question has been suspended, but that child and protective services is telling them that the teacher has been fired.
