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CMS teacher suspended after grabbing and cursing at student

CHARLOTTE — A video shared on social media shows a teacher in Charlotte grabbing a student and yelling at them, and now Channel 9 has learned that the teacher is on paid leave.

The video shows an art teacher at Ashley Park K-8 School grabbing 11-year-old Kayden Franklin and forcing him down into a seat. The teacher then berates the child and curses at him.

Channel 9 spoke with Kayden’s parents, and they said they’re outraged about what happened on Tuesday.

“You don’t do that to a child, period,” said Deon Franklin.

“You don’t need to be in the school system because you don’t know how to keep your cool,” said Cortney Pickett.

In the video, you can hear the art teacher accuse Kayden of cursing at a girl and trying to fight her.

“Is that what your family does? The men in your family put their hands on women? Your dad hit your mom?” the teacher says in the video.

A statement from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools said the district was “made aware of the incident.” CMS said the teacher is “currently suspended with pay.”

On Facebook, some educators stood up for the teacher. One commenter wrote, “As an educator, I understand what’s going on here ... sometimes you have to speak their language ... we also don’t know the whole story, this is just a clip.”

But Kayden’s parents don’t believe their son got physical with anyone. They say the teacher’s actions and words were out of line and have deeply hurt their son.

“Your job is to instruct and teach; if they’re out of line, get the principal,” said Deon Franklin.

Kayden’s mother said an administrator called her about the incident Tuesday but was vague about the details. She says she didn’t learn the extent of what happened until someone sent her the video.


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