A California school teacher is facing six criminal charges after footage emerged of her forcibly cutting a student’s hair while singing the US national anthem.
Margaret Gieszinger, 52, was arrested after a video posted to Reddit showed her telling a student to “take a seat” before “cutting chunks of the boy’s hair and tossing them behind her” while belting out incorrect lyrics to The Star Spangled Banner, the Associated Press reports.
The science teacher is also seen walking up to a female student as someone shouts “No, Miss G”. She then grabs the teenage girl’s hair and lifts the scissors into the air as youngsters “run for the exit”, Sky News says.
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One boy who witnessed the incident at University Preparatory High School, in Visalia, told local news broadcaster KFSN-TV that students initially thought Gieszinger was joking but “ran to the main office for help” when they realised she wasn’t.
“I hope I never have to see her at school again,” he added.
Gieszinger is facing one count of false imprisonment, two counts of cruelty to a child, two counts of battery, and one count of assault. If convicted of all the charges, she could serve up to three-and-a-half years in prison, CNN says.
She was released from jail on Friday evening after posting $100,000 (£79,000) bail and has been ordered to stay at least 100 yards (300ft) away from the school, where she had been working part-time since August. The school has confirmed that she will not be returning.
The Tulare County Office of Education said students affected by the incident were being offered counselling. “We take very seriously the safety of the students in classrooms. We are reviewing all available information and will take the most severe employment action appropriate,” the authority said in a statement.
Gieszinger’s husband told CNN that her behaviour had been “completely out of character”, adding: “She doesn’t do stuff like that. It’s not her. It’s not who she is. So I don’t know what was going on with her. I don’t have any clue as to why she did that.”
