A 49-year-old Florida high school employee faces child abuse charges after police say she continued punching a restrained student well beyond what self-defense allowed, raising questions about proper protocols for handling unruly students on school property.
What Happened on the School Bus
The incident unfolded at William T. Dwyer High School in Palm Beach County around 2:50 p.m. during student dismissal. Shaundra Smith, a non-instructional district employee, boarded a school bus after the driver requested help removing an unruly student. Smith initially attempted to speak with the student but soon called for additional staff support and two police officers to assist with the removal.
According to the Palm Beach School District Police report, officers arriving on the scene witnessed Smith and the student exchanging punches. School administrators and officers moved to separate the two by restraining the student’s arms. At that point, Smith climbed onto a bus seat and struck the student in the face while officers held the girl. Despite an officer ordering her to stop, Smith allegedly delivered two more punches before being physically pulled away.
From Self-Defense to Criminal Charges
The police report acknowledged that Smith’s initial actions constituted self-defense when the student first became physical. However, investigators determined her behavior crossed into criminal territory once the student was restrained by law enforcement. The continued punches represented intentional and unnecessary infliction of physical injury, according to authorities. The student suffered cuts inside her lip and a scrape on her left collarbone. Smith was arrested and charged with child abuse without great bodily harm.
School District Response
Principal Corey Brooks sent a message to William T. Dwyer High School families and staff informing them of Smith’s arrest. The Palm Beach County School District confirmed Smith has been removed from campus and will not return pending the outcome of the investigation. The incident highlights ongoing challenges schools face in balancing student discipline, staff safety, and appropriate use of force when situations escalate beyond verbal intervention.
So…the student is most likely a White person. Otherwise, a White employee hitting a Black student would be Racism and the main headline.
Please prove me wrong!
I think you are totally correct
Exactly. If that was my child, no matter what started this,
I would End that POS for ALL Time when she got released. I would probably be so mad that I would send as many of her family member as I could find with her.
I am not a scammer
spare the rod ,spoil the child.
10-1 odds the student was White
HUMMM, regardless of who is white and who is black, what difference does that make? It should not make any at all. It’s a matter of human dignity and respect. We don’t choose whether we will be BLACK people or WHITE PEOPLE!!! Well, I did not get to decide that as a fetus in the womb, DID YOU????? We are who we are, and it was NEVER a matter of choice. YOU were either black at birth, or you were white. You grew up who you were. LOVE ONE ANOTHER, LOVE THEY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF… I didn’t see any stipulations in there about “but only if you neighbor is WHITE, or but only if your neighbor is BLACK!!! GOD love ALL of the people. Red and Yellow, Black and White. They were ALL his family…
This world would be a whole heck of a lot better and more peaceful and productive if we let “COLOR” have nothing to do with anything… You are what you are, LOVE yourself and others and see if it doesn’t make a difference… Be respectful… For some reason we the people have FORGOTTEN what being GOOD means, what being POLITE means and what CARING about other people means, (regardless of color)!!! Shame on us! What goes around will come around b/c Karma is not nice to us!!!
CORRECTION…Typo: LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF!!!
I don’t really care what is the color of the student. If the student struck the employee first she got what she deserved. Kids these days think they get away with everything. It is time to prove they are wrong. Consequences.
True. Kids nowadays are becoming disrespectful of people in authority and their peers, which partly stems from the family situation. The color of one’s skin is of no consequence to what happened here, since it’s a matter of the heart; for good or evil which then springs forth in actions and our words.
That does not let the Social Worker off either.
She should have shown better restraint considering how she was the adult confronting the child.
It does not say why the student hit the Social Worker, but unless her life was in immediate harm, she had no right to do what she did. Likewise, the Social Worker had no right to hit the child after the first smack, even more so when that child was being retrained by the officer. That’s where she was definitely in the wrong because the threat was neutralized and she should have backed away.
Even if an adult is hit by a student first, that does not give any adult the right to lash back… unless their life was in danger and only then to stop the immediate assault. Even still, an adult should always be the better person and step away if they can. Instead, we see that the Social Worker kept attacking the child several times before she herself was dragged away from the child. That shows a lack of self-control on her part and should have been dismissed immediately.
The bus driver should have exited along with ALL the other kids and just left that one person on the bus while everyone waited for the police or that kids parents. And just sat on the grass or ??? waited it out!
So what gets me is why the bus driver did not try to intervene between the Social Worker and that girl? Was that driver so timid that they had no courage to try and do the right thing? Who knows.
I guess you can’t add anyway riding the school bus or any other type of transportation is privilege. It looks like there may have been other issues with this kid and a contract should have been made with parent or ?? and the kid with consequence, painting graffiti,community?? not being expelled which I am sure that is what this kid wanted
Even IF Smith is cleared, I would not think she in any way is liable to maintain self-restraint in the future when confronting any student or non-student. She is a threat to the community and it’s all on her and no one else.
Sounds like both we wrong.
I don’t have a dog in this fight.
People should be aware that people of color have a definitely sensitivity. Generally not deserved.