St. Paul Teacher Accused Of Grabbing, Bruising 6-Year-Old

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- For the second time this year, a teacher at a school in St. Paul is on paid leave during an investigation.

A long-time educator at Heights Community School is accused of an altercation with a student.

From the safety of her backyard, Doryan Acosta seems to have moved on from an incident that happened on Tuesday at school.

"She just came up to me and grabbed my arm," said Acosta, a first grader at Heights Community School.

The 6-year-old only needs to show you the back of her arm for a reminder of the run-in she said she had with a teacher during class.

"I told my friends around me that it hurts a lot," said Acosta.

Doryan told her mom what happened after school, but Ana Palmeros said she didn't realize how roughly her daughter was grabbed until the next day.

"Then I see, oh my god, she leave bruises. How hard she grab my kid to leave bruises on her arm," said Ana Palmeros, Doryan's mother.

Palmeros said she called the principal, who then called police.

"Yeah, I'm angry, but I can't do anything.  Just wait and see," said Palmeros.

This isn't the first time this school has had complaints about teachers. Heights Community School put a different teacher on paid leave earlier this year while it investigated him. Students accused Timothy Olmsted of racism in the classroom.

They say he made black kids sit in the back and told them they'd never amount to anything. Olmsted resigned late last month. That means he won't be investigated further, and he'll be paid all his accrued sick time and vacation time.

Parents have been protesting outside the school asking for change, and now it seems even students would like to see the same.

"I don't want her to bother no more kids, like swat at all of us and make them cry," said Vianna Rocha, a classmate of Doryan.

The teacher has not been arrested. The St. Paul School District confirmed the teacher is on administrative leave, but could not comment on the circumstances surrounding it.