Kansas City, Mo. ? The Kansas City School District, already investigating alleged employee misconduct at several of its schools, has suspended a middle school teacher for allegations that the teacher choked a student.

LaVona Lessley, the mother of the Northeast Middle School student, said school administrators failed to report the alleged choking of her son to authorities.

A teacher who witnessed the alleged assault on Feb. 21 said in a statement to the district that the now-suspended teacher grabbed the seventh-grader’s throat “and pushed him up against the wall by the neck, holding him up.” The teacher said the student did not provoke the choke hold, which she said also was witnessed by a vice principal and other students.

The teacher said she was so upset by what she saw that she spoke that day to the school’s vice principal and its principal, Wesley Elders. According to a police report, Elders spoke to the student but did not contact district administrators or police at the time.

About a week after the attack, Lessley said she called the Missouri Division of Family Services. A police report shows that the agency contacted police March 7. Lessley said her son was traumatized and she has transferred him to another school.

“The principal handled it very poorly, very unprofessionally,” she said Monday. “He needs to be disciplined as well as the (vice principal). She stood by and witnessed it happen.”

State law says principals immediately should report physical and sexual assaults to police and the superintendent.

District officials declined to respond to Lessley’s assertions.

The district now is investigating alleged misconduct by employees at five schools, including four principals. The allegations involve failure to report physical or sexual assaults to authorities, using improper discipline or lack of supervision.

In a statement Monday, district officials said they were concerned about the number of allegations and that student safety was of utmost concern.

“We are looking to long-term changes to enhance our existing training and administrative support,” the statement said. “Clearly, if any of the allegations claimed are true, such behavior will not be tolerated.”

In all, the district is investigating whether three principals properly notified authorities about alleged assaults at the following schools: Northeast Middle, East Elementary and Kansas City Middle School of the Arts.

School board President Al Mauro said he did not have all the facts about the incidents, but that he was concerned.

“We need to find out what is behind each one of these. It is not something we condone or are going to ignore,” Mauro said. “It has to stop. One incident is enough.”