Principal of a Florida school spanks a six-year-old pupil with a paddle as punishment for damaging a computer while the girl’s shocked mother films the incident
- The six-year-old girl was accused of $50 of damage to computers at school
- Her mother arrived at Central Elementary in Clewiston on April 13 to pay
- She was taken into the office of Melissa Carter, the principal
- Not speaking much English, she was confused by what was happening
- Carter then brought out a wooden paddle and smacked the girl on the behind
- The mother did not know what to do, so filmed the incident as evidence
- She said she ‘sacrificed’ her daughter to show what was happening at school
- Corporal punishment is allowed at some school districts but not Hendry County
The principal of a Florida school could be facing criminal charges after she was filmed hitting a crying six-year-old girl with a paddle, while her confused mother watched.
Melissa Carter, head of Central Elementary School in Clewiston, is under investigation by the police, WINK News reported.
Corporal punishment is not permitted in Hendry County school district.
The unnamed mother said she was called to her daughter’s school after the officials complained she had caused $50 worth of damage to a school computer.
The mother, who does not speak fluent English, did not understand what was happening as she was arrived at the school on April 13 to pay the $50 fine, but was taken to the principal’s office where her daughter was waiting.
Melissa Carter, left, is seen spanking the six-year-old child with a wooden paddle on April 13
The little girl can be heard whimpering and crying as she is beaten with the paddle at school
Central Elementary School in Clewiston, Florida, is yet to respond to the video
‘The hatred with which she hit my daughter, I mean it was a hatred that, really I’ve never hit my daughter like she hit her,’ the tearful mother told WINK News.
‘I had never hit her.’
She said: ‘My daughter was already in the office. The principal started to scream.
‘There were no cameras. What are we doing in this place? My daughter and I, alone.’
She said she did not know what to do, and worried that if she intervened in the punishment she too would be in trouble, with her immigration status questioned.
She filmed the incident, not knowing what else she should do.
‘Nobody would have believed me.
‘I sacrificed my daughter, so all parents can realize what’s happening in this school.’
Melissa Carter, the principal of Central Elementary School, could face criminal charges
Cecilia Self, right, was asked to translate but the mother claims she did not do so
Bret Provinsky, the attorney for the mother, said the State Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case to see whether they pursue criminal charges against Carter and Cecilia Self, the clerk of the school, who was seen in the room in the video.
On the website for the school district, it states: ‘The superintendent shall designate sanctions for the infractions of rules, excluding corporal punishment.’
Neither Carter nor the school has responded to requests for comment.
‘I don’t mind discipline with permission – but not when there’s a language barrier,’ said Ruby Monroe, whose grandson attends the school.
She told WINK News: ‘I worked for the state of Florida for 34 years and we always had an interpreter.’
Self, the clerk, was designated to translate for the mother, but the mother said she failed to do so.