From staff reports:

Parents in Federal Way are protesting the disciplinary actions taken against a Twin Lakes Elementary School teacher following an incident with a first-grade student.

According to a report by King 5 News, a first-grade student hit teacher Sandy Marzec in the face and bloodied her lip as she tried to calm him down on June 11.

Marzec was placed on paid administrative leave as the school district began an investigation into the incident, said spokeswoman Diane Turner, who would not discuss why Marzec was placed on leave. The investigation is expected to take a couple of weeks, Turner said.

On June 16, Marzec was allowed to return to her classroom to say goodbye to students, Turner said.

Parents had been complaining about the first-grade student’s behavior toward their children, according to the King 5 report.

“We take this situation very seriously. Safety of our staff and students is our primary concern,” Turner said.

Before being placed on leave, Marzec sent an e-mail to parents explaining her side of the story, according to the report.

“Policies regarding school district responses to student behavior are rooted in state and federal law. Some of those laws also govern issues of privacy and confidentiality for the staff member and the student,” the district said in a statement.

Stay tuned for updates.