Why One First-Grader Had To Sit On The Floor For Weeks While Her Classmates Used Desks

A Texas mother wants to get her son and daughter transferred out of their school after she learned that her daughter was made to sit on a classroom floor for weeks.

According to ABC affiliate KTRK, a Houston mother who wishes to remain anonymous said her first-grade daughter was forced to sit in class without a desk, as punishment for drawing on her previous desk.

The mother said the Spring Branch Independent School District told her that her daughter’s punishment consisted of going to the principal’s office, apologizing to the janitor and cleaning the vandalized desk; but she said the family did not learn about the continuing punishment until weeks later, when her daughter came home and revealed that she had been sitting on the floor and writing on a clipboard instead of a desk.

The mother also said that her daughter kept the punishment a secret because she was scared, reports Houston outlet KHOU-TV.

"She thought what she had done was so bad she didn't deserve to have a desk," the mom said, per KHOU.

The family has since filed a grievance with the district.

In a statement, the school district said it had appropriately reprimanded the teacher and offered to let the girl transfer to another school. From its statement, per News 92 FM in Houston:

Spring Branch ISD has investigated the circumstances regarding the classroom management at one of our elementary schools. As the parents have acknowledged, the teacher involved has been appropriately reprimanded. The family has been offered multiple opportunities to transfer their child, either to another teacher within the school or to any elementary school in the District where enrollment is not capped, but instead they chose to file a grievance.

According to KHOU, the family has chosen a new school in the district for their daughter to attend, but they are upset because the school reportedly does not have room for the girl’s brother. Additionally, the family feels that the school did not go far enough in helping their daughter deal with this incident.

"Apparently, the district's position is that the teacher has been reprimanded and that should be enough," said a statement from the family’s attorney, according to the Houston Chronicle. "I doubt that will bring this little girl comfort when she wakes up with nightmares and worries that her second-grade teacher will treat her the same way next year." Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/31/spring-branch-isd-desk_n_5638986.html?utm_hp_ref=weird-news&ir=Weird+News