Child Endangerment Charges at Schools
So much can go wrong in a school day. Every parent and every teacher knows this. It is a win when a class period or a school drop off or pickup goes by without conflict or accusations. In the second week of October, Florida schools witnessed several arrests of school employees, and at least one parent, for situations that endangered children, even though no one suffered serious physical injuries. Of course, every parent and every teacher knows that you can’t win, and that disgruntled teenagers or coworkers might just be trying to vilify you. Here, our Miami criminal defense lawyer explains recent Florida cases where defendants were arrested on school grounds.
Mother Gets DUI Charge While Picking Up Child From School
On October 15, 2026, a woman went to an elementary school in Flagler County to pick up her child during afternoon dismissal. She parked her car in the school parking lot and went to the front office to sign her child out. The front office staff noticed that the mother seemed intoxicated. Her balance was unsteady, her speech was slurred, and she was unable to fill out her child’s information on the sign out sheet. The office staff asked her why she did not seem like her usual self, and she said that she was having side effects from a prescription medication she had taken the previous evening. They called the police, who administered field sobriety tests and a breathalyzer test. The mother’s blood alcohol content (BAC) was 0.29 percent, which is well over three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent. She was arrested and taken to Flagler County jail on charges of driving under the influence (DUI). News reports did not include any other information about her case, such as whether the family courts initiated a case because of this incident or whether it affected a pre-existing family law case.
Substitute Teacher Faces Child Abuse Charges After Rough Response to Agitated Student
The following day, the legal troubles continued at Flagler County schools. A 60-year-old substitute teacher was assigned to teach a class of students with special needs at a high school. One of the students refused to follow instructions and became aggressive when the sub insisted. There are varying accounts of what happened next. The teacher walked the student to a desk, seated him, and sat down next to him, and the student kicked the teacher in the leg. The student later told police that the teacher kicked him in response and said, “Now we’re square,” meaning that each person had kicked the other. Meanwhile, the teacher told the police that, when the student kicked him, his leg jumped as a reflex, and that if he kicked the student, it was only by accident. The substitute teacher is now facing criminal charges for child abuse.
High School Teacher Arrested for Throwing Scissors in Classroom
Young teachers face an uphill battle. If you go to college immediately after high school, major in education, and get a teaching job in a high school immediately after you graduate, then you are barely five years older than some of your students, and the age difference between you and your students only slightly exceeds the age difference between the oldest and youngest students in the school.
A 22-year-old teacher at a high school in Bay County had the difficult task of spending her first year in the classroom showing her students who is boss. Her strategy backfired before the first quarter of the school year even ended, though. According to her students, she had a habit of throwing school supplies and other items to get the attention of distracted students. On October 14, the students were acting up, and the teacher threw a pair of scissors at a student’s back as he walked away; she had previously verbally addressed him and told him to turn around and look at her. The handle of the scissors hit the student in the back of the head, and then the scissors bounced off and fell to the ground; the blades did not hit him, and the scissors were closed when the teacher threw them. The student and his classmates complained to the school administration, who notified the police. Two days later, police came to the school and arrested the teacher. The Tampa Free Press news website did not say which charges she is facing.
Contact Our Criminal Defense Attorneys
A South Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing charges based on an incident that happened in or near a school. Contact Ratzan & Faccidomo in Miami, Florida for a confidential consultation about your case.
Sources:
msn.com/en-us/news/other/empty-vodka-bottle-found-after-florida-woman-nearly-4x-legal-limit-attempts-school-pickup/ar-AA2erkns?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ACTS&cvid=6ad40bb717be4aa3baa13b2b486725f2&ei=14
msn.com/en-us/news/other/the-gloves-are-coming-off-florida-substitute-teacher-arrested-after-kicking-special-needs-student/ar-AA2fBpRe?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ACTS&cvid=6ad77a091d0f4c62846fe8886da56a66&ei=21
msn.com/en-us/news/other/not-cutting-it-florida-teacher-arrested-for-trying-to-get-student-s-attention-with-flying-scissors/ar-AA2fELx5?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ACTS&cvid=6ad77c7dfb1240b9bd55309d7e0bef5a&ei=36
