JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A kindergarten teacher at IDEA River Bluff School in Arlington was arrested Tuesday following an incident that happened in her classroom.
Terri Baldwin, 39, faced five counts of child abuse without great bodily harm and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
According to Baldwin’s redacted arrest report, the incident involved multiple victims and multiple witnesses. It said that one of the witnesses told police that Baldwin became stressed out when a victim did not listen to her.
The report redacted details that specified what happened in the classroom on that day.
A mother that News4JAX spoke with said he son suffered a head injury in the incident after he was allegedly dangled upside down by his ankles.
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“My son had been held up in the air. He had been hit by the table and had a head injury,” the mother said.
The mom said she learned about the incident after another teacher called her and said she witnessed Baldwin holding the boy in the air.
The school sent the following letter to inform parents about Baldwin’s arrests.
IDEA Public Schools is committed to ensuring the safety of our students and staff. IDEA River Bluff is aware of an arrest made on campus involving a staff member for allegations of improper conduct toward a student. The staff member will no longer be employed at IDEA River Bluff. We are working in collaboration with law enforcement and taking appropriate actions in accordance with the law and network policy. All students and staff are safe.
All of our teachers and staff remain focused on both student safety and student learning. Providing a safe environment where out students can learn and progress on the road to and through college is and will always be our top priority.
Dr. Lawrence, IDEA River Bluff principal
Another parent whose daughter was in the class said she was outraged to learned about what happened.
“Complete shock,“ she said. ”I could not believe that something like this had happened, especially at this school. I haven’t had any bad reports or issues until now.”
News4JAX reached out to the school for comment but did not immediately hear back.
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