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AURORA, Colo. — An Aurora mom is incensed at a teacher’s crude actions. Aleaha Miller says the teacher at Sixth Avenue Elementary took her 4th-grade daughter’s chair away on Friday forcing her to stand in class for the entire day.
Aurora Public Schools is now investigating the matter.
On Friday, Miller says her daughter, Destyni, wore a dress to school. Miller says as her daughter got out of the car at the school, she told Destyni not to sit on the concrete curb outside the school, which is what kids at Sixth Avenue customarily do before filing into school to start the day.
"She had a dress on, and I didn't want her to mess up her dress,” Miller said. “You know, sitting on the concrete can mess up her dress. And - she has a dress on - you have to be a lady."
Destyni followed mom's orders, but she says the teacher wasn't having it.
"(The teacher) said if you can't do that, then you're going to have to stand up all day in class," said Destyni.
Once inside, Destyni says the teacher took her chair away from her desk.
“And then, I stood up for the whole entire day," the girl said.
"That's unacceptable," Miller said. “I was very livid. I literally turned my car around when she told me after school.”
Miller says she went back to the school on Friday where the office administrator buzzed the teacher in her classroom and asked her to come up and talk to Miller.
“And she told me that she was busy, she didn’t want to talk to me,” Miller said.
The dean of the school then told Miller that the complaint would be handled Monday.
On Monday, Aurora Public Schools told Denver7 the matter was under investigation by the district; the district also called Aurora police who determined on Monday morning that no criminal offense occurred.
The district said it is "taking the report very seriously and has addressed the issue in a timely manner."
The student has now been moved to a different classroom, according to both her mom and the district. APS said it is trying to figure out if the teacher will face disciplinary action.
Miller said the other children in her daughter's class even recognized the absurdity.
"My friends told me to just get a chair. [They said] it doesn't really matter what she says, because she's being rude to you," Destyni said.
"I'm a preschool teacher myself,” Miller said. “So, if a child said, 'Hey, my mom said I couldn't sit down,' I'd be like - 'Ok. Standup.' (laughs)."
APS also told Denver7 Monday that it does not have a policy allowing teacher’s to take students’ chairs away as a disciplinary measure.
