On Monday evening, New Hanover County Schools confirmed a complaint had been made against an Exceptional Children teacher working at Anderson Elementary. The teacher resigned shortly after the complaint was received, but before criminal charges were filed.
According to court records, 30-year-old Brittany Wells Kosch is facing two misdemeanor charges of assaulting a minor under 12. A criminal summons, issued last week, alleges that Kosck slapped one child on the head and neck and kicked another child in the stomach; both children were around six to seven years old (the birthdays and ages don’t quite line up on the summons).
The incident took place on Thursday, September 11. According to Superintendent Dr. Christopher Barnes, he was notified on the following Friday, September 19. Barnes told WHQR he recalled returning to work on a Friday afternoon to meet with the parent.
Following the complaint, Barnes said NHCS complied with all appropriate reporting requirements for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), social services, and law enforcement.
Barnes said at that point he did not notify the public, “because I don’t want to infringe on the investigation being conducted by the police. I need the police to have as clear a runway as possible.” Barnes stated that after law enforcement concludes its investigation, the district will conduct its own review of the incident.
The next week, on Friday, September 26, Kosch submitted her resignation, which was accepted as part of the personnel report by the school board during their agenda review meeting on Tuesday, September 30. Because Kosch resigned and was not fired, there is no formal public record (i.e., a letter of termination) with the reasons for her departure from NHCS.
WHQR is waiting for Kosch’s employment history from NHCS; according to her now-deleted LinkedIn profile and teacher homepage, she worked at Anderson for eight years, and was EC Department Chair for five years.
Roughly two weeks after Kosch’s resignation, on Thursday, October 9, a criminal summons for the two assault charges was issued. According to court records, she retained private counsel, who appeared in court on Monday. WHQR reached out to her attorney for comment.
“I’m glad the police moved on this as quickly as they did,” Barnes told WHQR, adding that while he could not comment further on personnel issues or ongoing investigations, he would “investigate every time we hear [something like] that, and we’re going to do our due diligence, every single time.”
NHCS also issued the following statement:
We are aware of a complaint involving a former staff member of New Hanover County Schools. While I cannot comment on specific personnel matters or ongoing investigations, I want to be clear: the safety and well-being of our students remain our highest priority. We will thoroughly, comprehensively, and diligently investigate every allegation brought to our attention.
We are fully committed to supporting the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office as they conduct their investigation. Once their work is complete, the district will carry out its own review in accordance with all applicable policies and procedures. We also comply with state-level reporting to NCDPI when issues such as these arise.
We encourage our staff, students, parents, and community members to help us by reporting any concerns through our Ethix360 platform via the website nhcs.ethix360.com.
We understand that concerns can be difficult to raise, and we remain committed to transparency, accountability, and ensuring a safe and supportive learning environment for every student.
