A Liverpool Central School District teacher was arrested Tuesday for kicking a 5-year-old child in Elmcrest Elementary School in December, according to statements from the Onondaga County sheriff's office and the school district.

Melissa Harrington, 47, was charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person, the sheriff's office said.

She is scheduled to appear in the town of Clay Court on March 26.

"The news of this arrest is profoundly disappointing and the purported conduct that formed the basis of this arrest, if true, is completely antithetical to the values and ethics we uphold in our school community," district Superintendent of Schools Daniel Henner said. "We understand the gravity of this situation and share in the sentiment of unease and distress that these events have inevitably wrought on our school community."

The district's central administration office made the initial referral to law enforcement in the case as soon as the allegations were discovered, the superintendent said.