Spalding County teacher charged after hitting 6th grade student in the face, sheriff says

WSBTV.com News Staff
Updated ·2 min read
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The Spalding County Sheriff’s Office charged a middle school teacher with battery after deputies say she admitted to hitting a student in the face.

Deputies arrested Sowjayna Ballikurva for an incident that happened at Kennedy Road Middle School on April 13. A sixth grader came to the school nurse and said that she had been hit in the face by a teacher.

The nurse took the student to the student resource officer, who noted “redness on the child’s face as though she had been struck.”

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Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix said that school administrators did not notify the SRO about the child being hit as they are required to do.

“When the SRO located the Principal, he was told that the teacher had already been interviewed by school staff, admitted she struck the child, and sent home,” Dix said.

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The SRO said he wasn’t in the room when Ballikurva was interviewed before she was sent home, but another staff member arranged for the SRO to meet with her.

Deputies looked at video of the incident and said the teacher admitted to hitting the student.

“We’re glad that the nurse did her duty, stepped forward, and spoke to the SRO or we may not have found out about it,” Dix said.

On Monday, the sheriff’s office arrested and charged the 44-year-old with simple battery. The sheriff’s office said there was a delay in her arrest because they had to check Ballikurva’s diplomatic status.

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Channel 2 Action News reached out to the Griffin-Spalding County School District for a response. The district says school leadership followed their protocols and reported the incident the same day they learned about it.

“School leadership became aware of a reported incident at Kennedy Road Middle School on Thursday, April 13 and an investigation, by the appropriate authorities, was promptly initiated.

School leadership followed standard protocol. The Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) was immediately notified by the school leadership, as school leaders are mandatory reporters. The principal notified the human resources department and a personnel investigation began. The principal gathered evidence and spoke to the teacher and witnesses in his preliminary investigation. The teacher was placed on administrative leave and sent home pending the outcome of the personnel investigation. School leadership met with the parent of the student involved and then law enforcement was notified. The reported incident took place Thursday afternoon and this process was completed a few hours later the same day. The findings of the school’s preliminary investigation were shared with law enforcement. The teacher fully cooperated with the investigative process and turned herself in to law enforcement officials.”

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