A 60-year-old substitute teacher was arrested this week after witnesses told deputies he kicked a student with disabilities during a behavioral episode at Matanzas High School. Bryan Schewitz, who lived in Flagler Beach, was charged with child abuse without great bodily harm and released on $2,500 bond.
The arrest followed a school resource deputy being notified of the Oct. 16 incident, according to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, as reported by News4JAX. Witnesses told deputies that Schewitz moved the student into a chair during the episode and kicked the student in the leg, and a witness later reported that the student had a large mark on the leg, per the Sheriff's Office.
Schewitz gave deputies a different account of what happened. He said the student kicked toward him and struck his leg, and that he put his foot out and accidentally kicked the student back, according to the same report.
Conflicting Accounts of What Happened in the Classroom
The case centers on sharply different versions of the same moment. Witnesses described Schewitz kicking the student during the behavioral episode, while Schewitz maintained the contact was unintentional, a reaction to being kicked himself. Deputies have not publicly resolved which account they find more credible beyond filing the child abuse charge.
Broader Pattern
The Matanzas case is not an isolated one in Florida. A teaching assistant in Lake County was separately arrested for allegedly hitting a special-needs student with a shoe multiple times and dragging the student across the floor, according to FOX 35 Orlando. In Duval County, a paraprofessional was charged with child abuse after allegedly yelling at, grabbing, shoving and spanking special-needs children in a classroom, per Action News Jax.
Under Florida law, neglect of a child may be based on a single incident or omission that results in, or could reasonably be expected to result in, serious physical or mental injury or a substantial risk of death, according to the Florida Legislature. It remains unclear how that statute applies to the specific charge Schewitz is facing.
