Chino Hills teacher accused of grabbing, throwing 6-year-old student in class

CHINO HILLS, Calif. (KABC) -- A Chino Hills mother is demanding answers after she says her 6-year-old son was grabbed by the neck and thrown to the floor by a teacher.

Monique Alexander says she knows her son, Chance, can sometimes be a handful.

"Academically, he's fine, but behavior-wise, he has some needs," she said.

She added those needs are not being met by the young boy's kindergarten teacher at Butterfield Ranch Elementary School.

"Basically, the teacher gave up on my son. Gave up on him emotionally, gave up on him academically," Alexander said.

But she says what allegedly happened to Chance on Thursday was out of line.

"The principal called me, around 2:30 (p.m.), and said your son was physically assaulted by a teacher, and another one of the teacher's peers witnessed it," Alexander said.

Chance also described the incident.

"She just came up to me, grabbed my shirt, and then threw me," he said.

When asked if he was injured, Chance said: "Yeah, she throws strong."

Chance also claims the teacher blamed him for the assault, alleging he hit her.

The other teacher who witnessed the alleged assault reported the incident to school officials.

Alexander later received a call from the human resources director of the Chino Valley Unified School District.

"He said, 'I can't tell you specifics, but if you can read between the lines, your son won't have any direct contact with his teacher again,'" Alexander said.

Now, the mother is calling on the school district to take responsibility for the incident.

"I want to ensure that my son, he understands that he is safe," Alexander said.

A police report has been filed with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, who is investigating.

In a written statement, the school district said: "Yesterday afternoon, Chino Valley Unified School District was made aware of an incident involving a teacher and a kindergarten student... While details of active personnel investigations are confidential, as a matter of procedure the teacher has been placed on administrative leave during the investigation."