A South Florida elementary school teacher had to be taken to hospital last week following an alleged attack by a five-year-old student.
A police report seen by CN Weekly said the Pine Lakes Elementary child was taken to an empty “cool down” room on Wednesday last week when he lashed out at the teacher.
In a heavily redacted police report, the Pembroke Pine Police Department said the unidentified instructor was found by first responders “sitting on the ground against the wall” and “appearing to be in a faint state” at Pines Lakes Elementary School, about 15 miles southwest of downtown Fort Lauderdale.
The report further stated that the teacher was “clearly weak and dazed,” able to “blink and breathe regularly, but at no point was able to vocally respond or show signs of a response.”
Police said the troubling incident started when a 5-year-old boy had to be removed from class for “throwing things around” and “flipping the chairs,” The youngster was taken to an empty “cool down” room, where the attack on the teacher allegedly took place.
Officials said the teacher was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood and has since been released.
The police representative said that while the young suspect is still being investigated for possible “aggravated assault with hands, fist, and feet,” it’s unlikely he’ll be criminally prosecuted based on his age and ability to distinguish right from wrong.
The teacher, in her late 30s or early 40s, who is said to be about 5-foot-4 with a slender frame, suffered a concussion and other injuries after the special education student, between 50 and 60 pounds, unleashed on her.
Teachers Union President Anna Fusco said, “the instructor had been leading an exceptional student education class with a group of children with some type of special needs or special disability, with all kinds of different diagnoses.”
“The way he pounced on her and the way she fell backwards and smacked her head, it was a severe concussion,” Fusco said. “She’s got some other bodily injuries from him jumping on her, attacking her, kicking, punching, biting that’s going to lead to surgery.”
Broward County Public Schools officials referred all questions to police.
The Broward County Public Schools district shared a message that Pine Lakes Elementary’s Principal Susan Sasse sent to parents and staff, acknowledging there had been “an incident that occurred in school” which required “a staff member to be transported to a local medical facility” on Wednesday.
“At all times during the incident, our campus was secured,” Sasse reported. “As always, the health, safety, and well-being of our students and staff continues to be my highest priority.”
The South Florida school has nearly 800 students, who range in age from pre-kindergarten to fifth grade.
