Connecticut officials investigating Bridgeport kindergartner's recess injury
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- Connecticut officials are investigating a playground accident at a Bridgeport school in which a kindergartner was returned to her classroom with her arm broken in two places.
"Here cracked. Here ligaments torn. Here orthopedic cracked it to reenact what happened to her," said Portia Griffin, the student's grandmother.
Portia Griffin says she was horrified last Thursday when she picked up her 5-year-old granddaughter from school. She says a doctor later confirmed the little girl's left arm was broken, her ligaments torn, and wrist out of socket.
"The hand was literally out of socket. Not attached to the arm," Griffin said.
Eyewitness News is told the accident happened during recess. While the family can accept that injuries do occur, they are upset with what happened next. They say the nurse gave the kindergartner an ice pack and sent her back to the classroom. A call home was never made. They didn't find out about the severity of the injury until pick up time.
"I think the nurse should've called home," said Fran Rabinowitz, the Bridgeport Interim Superintendent.
The superintendent told Eyewitness News she would like to change protocol so that nurses are more proactive about notifying families.
Meanwhile, Griffin says she still can't get a straight answer as to what happened on the playground.
She says on Thursday she was told her granddaughter collided with a little boy.
On Friday, she says she was told the little girl fell off the monkey bars.
Either way, this kindergartner is now in a cast and doing her school assignments at home.
"Someone dropped the ball and no one wants to admit fault," Griffin said.
This case is now being investigated by the school district and the Department for Children and Families.
Elizabeth Petrocelli, the district's nursing supervisor, said the nurse asked the child if she wanted to return and she said 'yes.'
