Preschool teachers arrested after parents check live classroom video, Georgia cops say
Two preschool teachers are facing charges of child cruelty after parents logged onto a livestream video of their children’s classroom and saw “abusive behavior” and “concerning physical contact,” Georgia police say.
The video shows about 10 students sitting in a circle on the floor at Parker-Chase Preschool of East Roswell in Alpharetta, Georgia, according to a news release from the Roswell Police Department. Alpharetta is about 24 miles north of downtown Atlanta.
Video shows the moment as one employee “steps and stands on the outstretched hand of a child, before striking another child with her leg,” Roswell Police Department spokesperson Tim Lupo wrote in an email. A second employee then “gets down on hands and knees and aggressively verbally scolds the child before placing a finger on the child’s forehead and pushing her backward,” according to police.
Endeavor Schools, the parent company of the preschool, said in a statement that school administrators were “shocked and disappointed” by the incident.
“The teachers in question were immediately removed from the classroom and have been dismissed,” the statement says. “We reported this matter to our licensing agency and Children’s Protective Services and are cooperating fully with the authorities, who have informed us that criminal charges are being pursued. While we are extremely grateful that the children are well, we take this matter seriously, and our investigation is ongoing.”
Parents reported what they saw on the video to Roswell police on June 3, the news release says. On June 6, officers arrested the two preschool teachers, 40-year-old Zeina Alostwani and 19-year-old Soriana Briceno, each on one count of cruelty to children.
Endeavor Schools owns a network of private preschools, K-12 schools and Montessori schools across the country, according to the company’s website.
According to the Parker-Chase Preschool’s website, the school handles discipline “using supportive discussion and appropriate consequences.”
“When a child under the age of two does something inappropriate, we let the child know that what he/she did was inappropriate and then show them an appropriate choice,” the website says. “So if a child hit a friend, we would model and talk to them about how to be gentle with friends.”
The school also says a criminal background check is run on every staff member and that its Georgia locations require federal fingerprint checks through numerous federal agencies.
This story was originally published June 8, 2022 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Preschool teachers arrested after parents check live classroom video, Georgia cops say."