MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Milwaukee Police are investigating a case of suspected child abuse at a Milwaukee elementary school.
Latasha Verser called TMJ4 News Thursday morning asking for help after she said her daughter, Saniyah, was picked up and thrown to the ground by an MPS substitute teacher.
"It's unfortunate. You send your child to school to learn, not to worry about if they're gonna get abused by a teacher," she explained. "Yesterday afternoon, I got a text from my oldest daughter who attends the school, and she told me 'Mom, when you pick us up you have to come inside'."
Verser said by the time she got to school it was dismissal time. She said when she went inside and got to the office, her daughter was crying.
The incident happened Wednesday at Lancaster Elementary School on Milwaukee's north side. It started, Verser said, when Saniyah was looking for a chair in the classroom.
"At this time the teacher came up to her 'What are you doing', and my daughter got scared and started shaking because she was yelling. And before she can explain what happened, the teacher had picked her up, threw her to the ground, and on the way down she hit her head on the table," Verser added.
Verser said she immediately took Saniyah to the Children's Hospital where doctors diagnosed her with a back contusion and mild head injury.
She said officers met her at the hospital and Milwaukee Police confirmed they're investigating this as child abuse.
However, despite the incident happening more than three hours before the end of the school day, Verser said the school never contacted her.
"Latasha, tell me a little bit about why you decided to call us this morning," Reporter Jenna Rae asked.
"I decided to reach out to you guys because I feel like that I would get a fast response. I felt like you guys could really help bring my story to light and maybe save another child from this," she responded.
Verser gave TMJ4 a video she took that shows a meeting she and her family had Thursday morning with Lancaster Elementary staff.
In the video, a school employee said she put in a complaint with employee relations. She also said, when she talked with the substitute teacher, they did not deny the incident.
TMJ4 sent the videos to MPS for comment and called to see if they would address the claims made by Verser.
A spokesperson for MPS sent us the following statement:
"Yesterday, toward the end of the school day, there was an altercation involving a student and a substitute teacher at Lancaster School. Our staff followed district policy and procedures, and the Milwaukee Police Department was contacted to address the incident. MPS does not comment on ongoing investigations, but appropriate measures are in place to ensure student safety."
Verser said Thursday morning when she took Saniyah back to school, it was emotionally challenging for both of them.
"I took my daughter so she could clean out her cubby and tell her friends bye, and she cried and it made me cry to see her cry because she can't go back to school because she's scared and it's not her fault," Verser explained further.
It's a story we'll continue to follow.
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