A Florida substitute teacher was busted after allegedly kicking a student with disabilities in the leg — then telling a witness that he had kicked the child back to even the score, authorities said.
Bryan Schewitz, 60, was arrested Friday after the alleged altercation at Matanzas High School in Flagler County, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
“He kicked me and I kicked him. So now we’re square,” Schewitz allegedly told a witness who questioned him about a large mark on the student’s leg, investigators said.
The Flagler Beach resident, who was working as a substitute at the school, was charged with child abuse without great bodily harm.
The incident unfolded on Friday when the student, whose disability was not specified, was experiencing behavioral difficulties during class, according to investigators.
One witness said Schewitz used excessive force to get the student into a chair, then made the child put his hands on a table while warning, “The gloves are off.”
The witness told investigators that the substitute’s treatment of the student made her uncomfortable.
Another witness said he saw Schewitz kick the child and subsequently spotted a large mark on the student’s leg.
The student’s mother subsequently told deputies that skin was missing from her child’s leg and provided photographs of the injury, according to WKMG, which cited the arrest report.
School officials questioned the student, who confirmed that Schewitz had kicked him, authorities said.
But Schewitz gave deputies a different account, insisting that the contact was accidental.
He claimed the student had arrived late to class, refused to sit down and began kicking toward him, eventually striking his leg.
Schewitz said he extended his own foot and accidentally kicked the student.
He also claimed the child had been moving around the classroom and attempting to poke other students with a pencil, prompting him to guide the student into an empty chair by the shoulder.
The substitute acknowledged placing the child’s hands on a table and sternly warning that “the gloves were coming off,” according to investigators.
When confronted about his alleged remark that he and the student were now square, Schewitz initially denied making the statement before expressing uncertainty about whether he had said it.
He nevertheless maintained that the kick was accidental, authorities said.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly condemned the alleged conduct, saying adults entrusted with caring for children — particularly those with disabilities — must remain levelheaded.
Flagler Schools Superintendent LaShakia Moore likewise emphasized that student safety was the district’s priority.
“This kind of behavior will not be tolerated on our campuses,” Moore said.
Schewitz was booked into the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility and released Saturday on $2,500 bond, according to the sheriff’s office.
It was not immediately clear whether Schewitz had been suspended, fired or removed from the school district’s substitute teaching roster.
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