SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) â
A 57-year-old teacher from Sandy, Utah is facing a felony charge of abuse or neglect of a disabled child after police say she hit a 7-year-old significantly disabled student in the back of the head three times back in February.
According to a probable cause statement, Cindy Bell was a special needs teacher at Silver Hills Elementary in West Valley City, Utah on February 16, 2021.
Police say that s when a behavioral aid had gone into Bell s classroom, and could tell that bell was upset and annoyed.
The aid said she tried to help Bell keep the kids on task, but they were having a difficult time paying attention, as it was the end of the day.
The teacher was placed on leave and then resigned.
The Salt Lake Tribune
| May 4, 2021, 5:29 p.m.
A former Granite District teacher has been charged with allegedly striking a “significantly disabled” student in the head.
Cindy Bell, 57, of Sandy, was charged in 3rd District Court with abuse or neglect of a disabled child, a third-degree felony.
According to the charges, a witness a behavioral aide at Silver Hills Elementary in West Valley City told police that on Feb. 16, she “could tell that Bell was upset and annoyed” with her students because it was “the end of the day” and “the kids were having a difficult time paying attention.”
WEST VALLEY CITY A special education teacher at an elementary school in the Granite School District faces a criminal charge accusing her of hitting a student after becoming frustrated.
Cindy Bell, 57, of Sandy, was charged Monday in 3rd District Court with abuse of a disabled child, a third-degree felony.
Bell was teaching a special needs class at Silver Hills Elementary, 5770 W. 5100 South, on Feb. 16. It was the end of the school day and the children were having a difficult time paying attention, according to charging documents, and the teacher s aide could tell that Bell was upset and annoyed.
Bell was reading a story to the children and asked another aide to continue reading. As Bell walked through the students, who were sitting on the floor, she tripped and fell over a 7-year-old boy. She got up and walked to her desk and was visibly frustrated, the charges state.