akeelah

A Shelby county kindergarten teacher has been suspended with pay after allegedly locking a 5-year-old girl in a closet for over an hour.

Kristin Oshfeldt teaches at A.B. Hill Elementary. She is accused of locking Akeelah Joseph in a dark classroom closet at the school. 

From WREG-TV:

The kindergartener was found only after the teacher went home and a sub came in. […] “I almost peed on myself because I couldn’t make it to the bathroom,” said Joseph. Students say this wasn’t the first time something like this has happened. Branelle McGaughy’s kindergarten son is one of them. “You shouldn’t have to worry about this. You send your kids to school to learn. Not to be put in closets and hit over the head with rulers and stuff like that,” said McGaughy.

Read more at WREG-TV

According to the school district’s website, as of two ago Oshfeldt was a school leader over student discipline. The district’s policy bans physical punishment of any kind, so Oshfeldt’s actions are in violation of the school’s code.

Shelby County Schools, Memphis police and the Department of Children’s Services are investigating the accusations.

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