SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A parent is accusing a South Florida teacher of bullying her 5-year-old son in class.
Kandy Escotto said she originally felt like something was wrong after her son Aaron made troubling comments about his teacher at Banyan Elementary School.
“He told me, ‘Mommy, I’m a bad boy,'” Escotto said. “I said, ‘Aaron, why do you say that?’ and then he said, ‘That’s what my teacher tells me when I don’t do my work,’ so that’s when I knew something was happening.”
Escotto said she voiced her concerns to school officials numerous times, but she kept being ignored. She then decided to place a recording device in her son’s backpack and recorded four days worth of Aaron’s classes.
“Left with no choice, she did what any other mother would do,” said Sonia Roca, Escotto’s attorney.
After listening to the audio, Escotto discovered Aaron’s teacher would often call her son and another student losers.
“Aaron y tu losers,” the teacher is heard saying in one recording.
In another snippet from the recording the teacher could be heard chastising Aaron over marks on his test sheet.
“No. This is not. That’s not bubbling. Do you understand what bubbling is? What is bubbling? One is circle, and the other one is to bubble,” the teacher is heard saying.
The teacher is then heard calling Aaron out in front of other students.
“Raise your hand if you know how to bubble. Aaron doesn’t know,” she said.
The teacher is also heard referencing Aaron’s mother in some of the recordings.
“I don’t know what to say to your mom. She’s driving me crazy. Why is she driving me crazy? I don’t understand,” she is heard saying. “I feel sorry for your mom, I really do. She’s a little lost. She’s a little lost.”
Escotto said after she heard the recordings, she asked the school to move her son to another classroom. Once that happened, she said her son’s behavior improved drastically. However, she said she wants to make sure something like this doesn’t happen to any other child.
“My client’s ultimate goal is that this teacher is removed from her position of power and that no other child ever has to go through this again,” Roca said.
The teacher in question has been with the district since 1985, and was named Teacher of the Year for the school in 2017.
Miami-Dade Schools has released a statement in response to the allegations, which reads in part:
“Any action that runs contrary to the values we instill in our school community will not be tolerated. The District will conduct a thorough review of this matter, and if the allegations are substantiated, we will take any and all appropriate disciplinary actions.”
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