A Florida teacher has been arrested after allegedly punching a student in the face several times, just days after being named the school’s “teacher of the year”.
Caroline Melanie Lee, 60, was charged with felony third-degree child abuse for striking the student, allegedly leaving her with a bloody nose, at Darnell-Cookman School in Jacksonville.
According to a police report, the altercation occurred after the school district commended Lee for being named teacher of the year, in a social media post last Wednesday.
The student, who has not been identified, reportedly commented on the since-deleted post, asking if Lee was the same teacher who had used the n-word in the classroom last year.
Responding on Instagram, Lee said the word had been used during a discussion about John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, police said.
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The book has stirred debate in the US about how to study literary works containing racist terms and phrases.
When the student arrived at school two days later, she was told that Lee, who is not one of her teachers, wanted to speak to her privately. When she sat down in the classroom, she claims, Lee reached across the table and struck her several times with the palm of her hand, not stopping even when blood began to pour from the student’s nose, according to the police report.
Lee denied the allegation and told police it was the student’s word against hers, according to the Florida Times-Union. She said she had asked to speak to the students after seeing a social media message she deemed “a threat to kill her”, although she did not feel the need to report the message.
Surveillance footage obtained by police shows Lee striding to the classroom “at an aggressive pace” and the student leaving the room minutes later holding her face. She immediately reported the incident to a guidance counsellor.
Lee was arrested on Friday and appeared in court a day later. She has been removed from the school.
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In a message to parents, Tyrus Lyles, the principal, said it was “very disappointing” that a teacher had been charged with abusing a child. “Even more disappointing, the teacher arrested is our recent teacher of the year nominee,” he added.
“What is alleged should never occur – ever – especially in a school setting,” Diana Greene, superintendent of Duval County Public Schools, said. “I have no tolerance for adults who harm children, especially adults in a position of trust.”