We had this issue when DS was in Pre school from both sides, one year there was a kid who was a "handful" and it was very tough for the other parents. We put a lot of pressure on this private school to deal with the child, which they did, through meetings with the parents. What ended up happening was the bulk of the teachers time was spent with the kid, leading to things happening with the other kids. But the child's behavior kept escalating, as the parent of the kid who got hit, it was so obvious it was about fit. In this case the kid was much less verbal and socially ready for the program but the school had caved to the parents to let him in, and then had to cave to the other parents and removed him.
I realized the next year though as they struggled with my DS who had gone through one of those super growth spurts of learning that they couldn't deal with anyone not in the fat part of the bell curve of beahvior for this age group. They couldn't manage the social and emotional needs of someone too young nor could they handle it with the too advanced. Anything "too" was too much.
From what I read when we had to deal with the biter and hitter, it is all about frustration and communication. If they don't have the words or the emotional development so they resort to the physical. I can't say I know what they should have done better but I do know they took the steps they did due to parental pressure, so that's what you might be getting as well. Then again they wanted my 4 year old who was reading 3 grade books to see a psych for social training when he had no interest in playing with his age mates who had no knowledge of what he was talking about!
Not sure if any of this is helpful
DeHe
