Substitute Teacher Hit Boy With Yard Stick, Deputies Say

HOLIDAY, FL — A 59-year-old substitute teacher faces child abuse charges after Pasco County Sheriff’s deputies say she hit a student with a yard stick, leaving marks on his back.

The incident that led to Evonne Francis’ Thursday arrest took place at Holiday’s Paul R. Smith Middle School, 1410 Sweetbriar Drive, on Thursday, Dec. 15. According to the sheriff’s office, a dispute between the boy and a substitute erupted during a fifth-period class.

The victim, an email from the sheriff’s office said, tried to tell Francis a child she was attempting to remove from class was innocent of whatever wrongdoing had been alleged. The boy told deputies Francis called him a “rude little boy” and then ordered him to “shut his mouth and get out of the classroom.”

After that, she’s accused of taking a yard stick she had in her hand and hitting him twice on the back.

“The incident was witnessed by two other students, as well,” the email noted. “Marks were left on the child and documented by detectives.”

Francis was booked into the Land O’ Lakes Jail Thursday and later released in lieu of $5,000 bond, jail records indicate. She faces a felony charge of child abuse.

Booking photo courtesy of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office