KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A northland teacher is on leave after the North Kansas City School District discovered a misdemeanor charge connected to alleged child abuse.
The teacher started Oct. 26, six weeks after she was charged with assaulting a 1-year-old at her former daycare business.
The district says it didn't know.
A letter sent home to parents. The letter explains kindergarten teacher Emily Bowers has been placed on paid leave during an internal district investigation. The move comes after the district learned Bowers has been charged with one count of misdemeanor assault stemming from an incident with a 1-year-old boy.
The alleged incident happened in March while Bowers was operating her own daycare before she was hired at Northview Elementary School.
"She had excellent references and the principal said she's doing a wonderful job," explained Assistant Superintendent David Stewart, at a press conference.
While Bowers ran the daycare a father accused her of causing red welts on his son's buttocks and thighs. A parent of a first grader at Northview told us any incident involving a child is serious.
"I know anybody my kids come in contact with I want to make sure they're safe and they're not a danger to my kids," explained Angela Atee.
The district ran several background checks before hiring Bowers who taught five years in the Liberty School District. However, the misdemeanor charge was filed after the background check was completed.
"Now, we have a board policy that requires employees that are involved in criminal or even civil activity they are supposed to notify us of those activities sometimes that does not occur," said Stewart.
The district will evaluate bowers future after the internal investigation is complete.
Bowers would not comment Wednesday. Her lawyer never returned our calls. However, he's said publically Bowers will contend the injuries happened somewhere else. A jury trial is set for March.
