Mother removes son from Foust Elementary after aide assault charge

Tia Bridges said she removed her second-grade son, Zaylen, from Foust Elementary as soon as she learned a former teaching assistant was charged with assaulting him. For Bridges, the issue was not only what happened in the classroom at the Greensboro school, but how long it took for the family to understand it and decide whether they could trust the district to protect a child who cannot explain what happened on his own.

Court records show Chelsea McKenzie Parker is charged with misdemeanor assault on a child under 12. The records list the offense date as Oct. 16, 2025, the case was filed May 29, 2026, and Parker was arrested June 1, 2026. She received a $1,000 unsecured bond and is scheduled to appear in Guilford County District Court on July 1.

Bridges said Zaylen is autistic and nonverbal, which made the alleged incident especially hard to process. She said she was stunned to learn that Parker had hit him on the head several times with an open palm and said she could not leave him in the classroom once she understood what had happened. Other Foust parents shared photos they believe show similar concerns involving their own children, raising the possibility, in their view, that the problem was not isolated to one family.

The timing of the criminal case also raised accountability questions for the district. Guilford County Schools said Parker resigned on May 8, 2026, and that it launched an investigation and notified law enforcement once it became aware of the allegations. The district declined to release more information, calling it a personnel matter.

Parker had been hired by Guilford County Schools in January 2022 and previously was listed on Foust Elementary’s website as an assistant EC teacher. Foust Elementary, at 2610 Floyd Street in Greensboro, serves grades pre-K through 5. Guilford County Schools says Exceptional Children services are specially designed instruction for students with disabilities and can include related services such as speech, occupational and physical therapy.

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction guidance gives parents several paths when special education disputes are not resolved, including raising concerns with the teacher or principal, contacting the district EC director, filing a formal written complaint, pursuing mediation, or requesting due process. For families like Bridges’, the question is how quickly those protections and disclosures are triggered when a child’s safety is called into question, and whether parents can rely on schools to move as fast as the risk does.