Art teacher shoves 7-year-old boy in closet as punishment, DC police say

A teacher in Washington, D.C., has been accused of forcing a 7-year-old boy into a closet as punishment, according to local media reports.

The boy, a student at Lawrence Boone Elementary, a public school in southeast D.C., told his mother that his art teacher became upset with him and shoved him into a utility closet, ripping his shirt in the process, according to NBC4.

“They didn’t know of the closet,” the mother, Bertrina Herndon, told the outlet. “They didn’t have any knowledge of this — the principal, security — no one did. They had to sit and ask my son questions before they entered the closet to make sure that his description matched the description, and it did — to a T.”

The District of Columbia Public Schools referred the matter to the police for further investigation, according to the Washington Examiner.

“DC Public Schools is committed to the safety and well-being of every student,” DCPS spokesman Enrique Gutierrez told the Examiner. “While we cannot comment on personnel matters, DCPS takes any allegations regarding student safety and wellbeing extremely seriously.”

Neither the Metropolitan Police Department nor D.C. Public Schools responded to a request for comment from McClatchy News.

This story was originally published October 24, 2022 at 10:25 AM with the headline "Art teacher shoves 7-year-old boy in closet as punishment, DC police say."