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A preschool teacher at the Kroc Keiki Learning Center was fired last year for lifting up and yelling into the ears of children in her class, according to a lawsuit filed by the parents of one of the students.
The Salvation Army said it fired the teacher, Illana Wright, in February 2018 after an internal investigation confirmed the abuse. The center’s director, Margot
Mesinas, also was fired for failing to report the abuse.
Joan and Mark Megna, the parents of a girl who was in Wright’s class in 2017 and 2018, filed a lawsuit in state court Tuesday against Wright and Mesinas. They also are suing the Salvation Army, its Kroc Keiki Learning Center, the Salvation
Army’s Hawaiian and Pacific Islands Division commander, the director of the Kroc Center, the executive director of the center’s early childhood education and its director of operations and human
resources manager for negligence.
The Salvation Army said in a written statement that it “sincerely hopes that this pending lawsuit can be
resolved quickly. The Salvation Army cooperated with the state’s investigation, concluded an independent investigation of the allegation in early 2018 and found the preschool teacher did not comply with its high standards for treatment of children in the classroom.”
The organization also said it has taken multiple steps to prevent abuse and protect children in its care.
An investigation by the state Department of Human Services Child Care Licensing program found that it is more likely than not that Wright physically mistreated and yelled into the ears of children in her care; that Mesinas failed to administer the child care center appropriately; that Mesinas’ supervisors failed to ensure that children
enrolled in the Learning Center were protected from inappropriate behavior by center employees; and that Mesinas and other Learning Center staff failed to promptly and directly relay concerns about Wright’s
alleged mistreatment and abuse to the parents and guardians of the children in her care.
