Jennie Runevitch/Eyewitness News
New Albany - A kindergarten teacher has been suspended after her harsh words to a student were captured on tape.
Tabitha McMahan and her husband put a digital recorder in her son Gabriel's pants pocket after he complained of verbal abuse from his kindergarten teacher, Kristin Woodward. Gabriel's behavior folder is filled with comments about him acting up in class. But his teacher's reaction, which McMahan called disrespectful, concerned the five-year-old's parents.
"He would tell me, 'Mommy, my teacher's being mean to me. The kids at school are telling me I'm bad and stupid. They don't want to be my friend'," McMahan said. "When your child's coming home every day for a month and a half telling you his teacher's being mean, you have to do something and that's the first thing that popped in our head. We should put a recorder in his backpack."
When Gabriel returned home from S. Ellen Jones Elementary School that afternoon with his secret recording, his mom got an earful.
"I'm sick and tired of you and your nonsense," a voice, attributed that of Woodward, said on the tape. "You've been ignorant, selfish, self-absorbed, the whole thing. I'm done."
The tape continues with Woodward addressing the class.
"He has made every wrong choice possible. He has had more help to make right choices and he has chosen not to," she said. "You guys think, is that someone you want to be with?"
The class replies with a drawn-out "no."
"See?" Woodward said. "Your friends don't ever want to be with you now."
"She just goes on and on and you know, as a mom, you're hearing this and you're like, 'I can't believe this lady!' She's a parent!" McMahan said.
The couple immediately took the recording to an attorney, who let school administrators have a listen. They placed the teacher on paid leave. Meanwhile, the Indiana State Teachers Association is standing up for Woodward. In fact, the agency has filed a grievance on her behalf, saying the school district went too far by suspending her.
Carol Mooney, a spokeswoman for the association, said administrators violated a part of the contract that requires teachers to be treated "with respect and human dignity" by imposing a suspension.
"It's very unfortunate that all of this has come out so one sided that this public employee doesn't feel she can talk pending the outcome of her employment status," Mooney said.
But to McMahan, the teacher's suspension is just punishment.
"I just can't see how you can talk to someone like that," McMahan said. "I mean, even if you were a grown up, I wouldn't want someone talking to me like that."
Gabriel's stepfather, J.R. Edwards, said he was concerned about the "psychological impact" on the boy.
"If he's not OK, I want her held accountable for it," Edwards said.
Woodward could not be located for comment as there is no telephone listing in her name in the New Albany area.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)
