Police Investigate Incident Involving Teacher and Nonverbal 9-Year-Old Student

A Tennessee teacher is facing serious allegations after reportedly dragging a nonverbal student across a carpet, resulting in injuries described as “carpet burn” and a “blood red mark.”

Meg Day, 49, has been charged with assault, according to the McNairy County Sheriff’s Office. Official records confirm that she was taken into custody on Thursday.

The incident took place on March 19 at Selmer Elementary School, located in Selmer, Tennessee, approximately 100 miles east of Memphis. According to NBC affiliate WMC, a McNairy County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to the school following reports from two witnesses who alleged that a staff member had attacked a child.

The accused teacher, identified as Day, is alleged to have grabbed a nonverbal 9-year-old student by his lower body and dragged him across a carpet. Another staff member reportedly observed the child reaching for his back, subsequently noticing a “blood red mark.”

The school’s nurse assessed the situation and determined that the student had suffered a “carpet burn,” as reported by CBS affiliate WREG in Memphis. The incident was promptly reported to the school’s principal and assistant principal.

Following her arrest, Day was held in jail but has since been released, according to the records.

Just days earlier, an employee at Selmer Middle School — which, like Selmer Elementary, is within the McNairy County School District — allegedly hit a student on the back of the head. Authorities say 65-year-old Sequoia Ann Hively was captured on video slapping a 15-year-old student.

The student was reportedly checked by the nurse and found to not have any injuries. The superintendent told the teen’s father that Hively — who was a lunch worker — would not be back at the school until the situation was resolved, per WREG.

She, too, was released from jail.