Mother of 4-year-old who was dragged retains attorney

YOUNGSTOWN — Stevelyn Jackson, the mother of the 4-year-old preschool student who was allegedly dragged down a hallway at a Youngstown school has retained Betras, Kopp & Harshman to investigate the incident and pursue legal action against the Youngstown City Schools and the ALTA Care Group.

Jenn Lohr, an Alta preschool teacher at Programs of Promise at Wilson, in the former Wilson school building on Gibson Street, was fired Tuesday after the incident. The episode was captured in a photo by a Youngstown school district employee.

“Ms. Jackson and her son have both been extremely traumatized by the preschool teacher’s inexcusable, inappropriate, and what may well be illegal behavior,” attorney David Betras said. “I’m sure no one will be surprised to learn that Ms. Jackson’s son is frightened and does not want to return to school. The psychological damage he’s suffered could last for years and negatively impact both his academic career and his entire life.”

Betras said he intends to fully investigate the incident contending the school district and ALTA haven’t been totally forthcoming about what took place. “We need to know why this happened, what, if any, procedures and protocols govern operations at the preschool, and whether the teacher involved has a record of abusing students at Wilson or other facilities,” he said.

“In addition, given the fact that more than 800 children attend ALTA preschools, the community needs to know if this was an isolated incident or a regular occurrence, because, let’s face it, if the [Youngstown employee] had not recorded the teacher dragging this youngster down the hallway by his arm the episode may never have come to light” Betras said. “I think every parent whose child attends an ALTA-managed school has a right to be concerned.”

Lohr has also retained an attorney and wants to know why Alta didn’t conduct an investigation.

The Mahoning County Children Services is investigating, according to Denise Dick, school district spokeswoman.

Unrelated to this incident, the district will not collaborate with Alta after this year, Dick said.

The school district needs to explain why ALTA’s contract with the district has been terminated, Betras said.

“The district’s spokesperson’s explanation as reported in The Vindicator, ‘We just feel we can provide better service to the children,’ just isn’t good enough,” he said. “We all need to understand exactly what that statement means and we need to know before another youngster is manhandled or abused in some other way.”