It may be she is a “teacher assistant”, not a teacher. It's not unusual for these assistants to be called a teacher. That would be why the woman who had been on the school board would not have known her name. Other teachers also might not have known her name. In kindergarten, it's not unusual to have a helper in there as these 5 yr. olds have body needs and other issues that older kids don't have. The teacher can teach while the helper takes care of body issues and helps keep the kids focused.
If they have a snack in class, two adults is much better than one trying to keep the milk cartons on the desks instead of on the floor.
All articles I read earlier said she was shot at school. Tonight, said she was shot in the face at home.
The district where I attended school is small enough that even a classroom assistant would be known to the board. It might be different in bigger cities but I don’t know anything about Newtown CT.