Parents pulled their children from a Pembroke Pines elementary school classroom after hearing what they say were teachers verbally and physically abusing their kids.
The parents of Ezra Adar say their son had been coming home from Pasadena Lakes Elementary School feeling distressed and using profanity. They decided to check an app they use to communicate with and locate their autistic son. The app also records audio, and what the parents heard was shocking.
"Why are you not doing your work?" teacher is heard yelling while a kid yells in the background. "Go to time out ... go to time out ... you don't want to do your work."
"You are gonna eat," a teacher is heard yelling in another recording while a child cries. "You better not touch me or scratch me, you understand? You are getting a diaper change.
Ezra's father, Matt Adar, and other parents immediately complained to the principal. One parent had a photo of their daughter with a bruise on her arm, which she says happened when she was at school.
"Just waves of like, is this true? Oh my God. This is true. This is not a movie. I didn't see this on the news," Matt Adar said. "This is my son ... this is happening to me."
The parents also called for the Department of Children and Families to investigate.
Local
"My first thoughts were just horror," said Jason Segelbaum, who also pulled his son Max from the class. "I could not believe this was actually happening in a school I was sending my son to."
The two teachers of that class have been removed from the classroom and are not in contact with any of the students, Broward County School Board said. The Broward Sheriff's Office and DCF are also investigating.
