Something was wrong at Playtime Preschool in East Columbus, Ohio. Kids at the school seemed to be getting a few more scrapes and bruises than normal when teacher Chavay Williams, 30, herself a mother of two children was on duty. But a Snapchat video shared on social media by Williams now has her facing 21 counts of child endangerment.

It turns out that in June 2018, Williams encouraged a large group of the preschoolers to fight each other in a sick version reminiscent of the hit movie Fight Club. According to local news station NBC24, the video showed boys and girls hitting, pulling and pushing one another. In the video, Williams can be heard egging the kids on as another teacher present does nothing to stop the action. The video was anonymously sent to police in the past few weeks and an investigation was launched. At first, Williams allegedly told authorities that she was recording the children who were acting up to show their parents their behavior.

According to the owner of Playtime Preschool, Elisabeth Lawson, as soon as child welfare workers and police brought the matter to her attention she fired Williams and another teacher over the incident. Lawson says that 97 percent of the families at the school live below the poverty line and take advantage of Publicly Funded Child Care. According to her, the school is the largest Black-owned preschool in Ohio providing much-needed services to the community. Lawson further told the media that Williams’ behavior became erratic when her mother was fired from the school earlier this year.

Parents were made aware of the incident and so far Lawson says none have pulled their kids from the school. The 21 charges against Williams are for each of the children on the playground at the time. Williams was charged on Wednesday and is scheduled to appear in court in October 2018.

A former preschool teacher in Columbus has been charged after police say she encouraged children to fight and shared videos on social media.

According to police, 30-year-old Chavay Williams permitted 21 children under her supervision at the Playtime Pre-school on Alum Creek Drive to fight with each other while on the playground on June 14.

None of the children were seriously injured during the incident.

Williams has been charged with 21 counts of endangering children. She is scheduled to be arraigned on October 23.

“Yeah, that does very much surprise me,” Eveylyn Ware said.

“It was really a shock, honestly, to know this happened,” Angelyne Ulmer said.

Ulmer’s three children go to Playtime Preschool. Her 5-year-old daughter was in the classroom of 30-year-old Chavay Williams.

“I was a little blown away,” Chaya Porter said. “Knowing her character and how much she pumped goodness into my son, specifically, who was in the classroom. I was just like oh my goodness. Like, one bad decision cause it was so out of character.”

Parents say the allegations are shocking, but also that it’s Williams who is accused of them, saying she had the reputation of being an incredible teacher.

“She was a really, really sweet person,” Ulmer said. “She was an awesome teacher. My daughter absolutely loved her.”

According to the daycare owner, Williams’s mother had been fired from the daycare about a month ago. She’s concerned the video might have been retaliation.

Still, with 150 children enrolled, parents say Playtime Preschool has been a tremendous asset.

Ware’s third of 11 grandchildren will be enrolled in the daycare soon. She hopes it will be around for years to come.

“They’re not scared to come to school,” Ware said of her grandchildren. “They don’t have issues with kids here, none of that. And, I would be really sad if this place got closed.”

The daycare owner says Williams has her CDA preschool credentials and 12 years teaching experience.