Keva Maddox, a Black grandmother in Toledo, Ohio, is calling for the termination of a teacher accused of forcing her three-year-old granddaughter Khyli to stand outside in the winter cold on Dec. 4.
“My granddaughter was upset and was crying, and instead of, I guess, comforting the reason why she was crying, she made her basically stand outside in the freezing cold for six and a half minutes without a coat,”
Ms. Maddox said to The Final Call. “There is video of this incident, of her repeatedly asking her, ‘Are you cold yet? Are you cold yet? You’re not coming back inside until you stop crying.’”
That day, the temperature was in the low to mid-30s with strong wind gusts.
Ms. Maddox said the video is in the hands of Lucas County Children Services. After another teacher reported what happened to children’s services, the family received word of the incident.
Kara Henck, a White teacher at Beverly Elementary School, reportedly placed another preschooler outside three separate times for the same reason. She was originally suspended with pay but that was changed to without pay on Dec. 16, pending the outcome of an investigation by the school district.
The Final Call contacted Lucas County Children Services about the video and its investigation and received the following response via email: “All information on child abuse investigations by child welfare agencies is confidential.” The school district is still investigating the incident.
For family and activists, the unpaid suspension of the teacher is not enough.
“I’m asking for termination. That’s what I’m asking, but I don’t know what’s going to happen. Just the fact this will not get swept under the rug,” Gerald Rose, founder and CEO of New Order National Human Rights Organization, said to The Final Call.
He discovered the story on Facebook and immediately reached out to Khyli’s family out of concern. Though he resides in metro Atlanta, Toledo is his hometown.
“I was concerned about the safety of the child, because she went out, took the child and came back inside the school and left the child outside unattended. And that tells me that she could have been in danger, and could have been snatched up immediately from somebody. It would have been a worse problem,” Mr. Rose said.
“Would you want your child outside in the cold in December with no coat on at school?” asked Kashara Love, Khyli’s mother, in an interview with a reporter on WTVG 13ABC. Ms. Love told the reporter that a school administrator called her to report what happened.
Ms. Maddox described Ms. Henck’s actions as cruel and disturbing. “It was torture,” she said.
The family had a decent relationship with the teacher before the incident.
“I have an older grandson who is seven years old. She was his preschool teacher. Never had any problems with her while he was in her class, and during that time, it was during COVID. So this woman has been in my house before doing home visits. I thought she was just a great teacher,” she said.
She recalled how her granddaughter dreaded going to school.
“I would pick her up and she would just be very sullen, withdrawn, just very quiet. And now we know why. And within a day, and I mean, within a day of this teacher being removed out of the classroom and placed on leave, my granddaughter, her whole attitude, she did a 180.
She is smiling, she is happy, she’s excited about going to school,” Ms. Maddox said. “It was the teacher, and God knows what else she put Khyli through.”
Her mission, now, is to have the teacher terminated.
“Her license needs to be removed, and that’s my goal; that’s our goal. This is just to protect my grandchild and any other student, because no student, no baby, has to go through something like that,” she said.
The family plans to get professional counseling for Khyli to help her get back to herself and to make sure she is alright.
“I just want to say that our kids are just as important, our kids are just as brilliant, and our kids are just as smart,” Mr. Rose said. “We want justice, and justice will be served in this case.”
