Winsted teacher burned in classroom

Winsted (WTNH) - A fifth grade teacher in Winsted is out of the hospital after being severely shocked in class.

The incident happened at Pearson Middle School Academy Thursday. Ms. Kristy Ejzak had just returned to her classroom with her students when she tried to turn on the lights, but the light switch and the circuit breaker failed, severely burning her hand.

"She was in a stretcher and her hand was like black," said 8th grader Diana Chovklyy.

The power to that section of the building was turned off, and the students were ushered to the cafeteria and the gym while things were checked out.

Ejzak was rushed to the Bridgeport Hospital burn unit.

Parent Warren Sparrow is concerned about his children's safety.

"We certainly told our children today not to touch any electrical outlets," he said.

It appears that a screw had loosened and the switch was able to move allowing an arc to occur. The circuit breaker that protects the switch by cutting off the flow of current also failed. An electrician is now going through all the classrooms making any necessary repairs.

Parents say it's an older building severely in need of rehab, but there just is not enough money in the budget.

"We've already started to compromise children's education standards through decreases in budgets and now, we're having some real significant safety issues," Sparrow said.