A high school teacher in central California was arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment after forcibly cutting the hair of one of her students while singing the national anthem.
A video shows Margaret Gieszinger, a teacher at University Preparatory High School on the campus of College of the Sequoias Community College in Visalia, holding a pair of scissors in one hand as she points to a chair at the front of her classroom and urges a male student to sit down. After cutting the boy’s hair, Gieszinger grabs at a girl’s long hair before the students make a run for it out of the classroom.
The College of the Sequoias District Police Department arrested Gieszinger, 52, on suspicion of felony child endangerment. She is being held at Tulare County’s pre-trial facility on $100,000 bail, according to inmate records.
Gieszinger was hired in August to teach at the high school part-time.
Gieszinger’s teaching credential was suspended for 14 days in 2016 “for immoral or unprofessional conduct,” according to the state’s Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Her teaching credential was also suspended for two weeks in 2017 but the commission does not list a reason.
