PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. — A Paulding County teacher is facing a simple battery charge after an incident that happened in December and involved a special-needs student.
“What she did was pull the chair out from underneath the special-needs student,” said Sgt. Ashley Henson with the Paulding County Sheriff’s Department. “And from what I’ve been told, there were actually other staff in the room that witnessed the event.”
The teacher accused of pulling the chair from under the student is Terri Johnston, who is no longer with Paulding County Schools.
“Are you kidding me?” parent Jackie Gafford told Channel 2’s Lori Wilson. That would be bad enough with “any student, but special needs? That’s heartbreaking”
Those waiting to pick up the children from the school Thursday told Wilson they were stunned at the news that Johnston turned herself in to police earlier this week.
“That’s terrible, I wouldn’t want it to happen to my child,” parent Bobby Johnson told Wilson.
The fact that it happened to a 20-year-old special-needs student is why police say this incident was taken so seriously.
Johnston is facing simple battery charges.
“I think that’s why it was so alarming,” Henson told Wilson. “To the individuals involved, and obviously the parents involved.”
The incident was investigated once the students returned from winter break.
Johnston turned herself into authorities Tuesday.
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Paulding County schools released a statement saying:
"Terri Johnston is no longer employed with the Paulding County School District. Any comment regarding the charges she is facing will need to come from the Paulding County Sheriff's Office."
“They’d be in big trouble with me anyways, if they didn’t let someone go for that reason,” said parent Amberlee Zachmeyer.
But Kelly Floyd, who was picking up her students, didn’t want to rush to a conclusion.
“You don’t know the story behind it though, so you can’t really judge by just what they did,” Floyd told Wilson.
“We did not get any reports that the student was injured,” Henson said. “But obviously, that’s not something you want to do to anybody, especially a special-needs student.”
“Those teachers need better training, (along) with ... I don’t know, maybe just more patience,” Gafford said.
Police said they have not seen anything to indicate the student was injured.
Johnston has since bonded out of jail.
Cox Media Group
