POLK COUNTY, Fla. — 9 Investigates uncovered the state will allow a teacher seen on video pushing a student to the ground to continue working in a classroom.
The state sent the teacher a letter of reprimand and forced him to pay a $750 fine.
Surveillance video showed Reginald Edge pushing an 11-year-old disabled student to the ground and dragging him on a concrete sidewalk last year at Lake Marion Creek Middle School in the Polk County section of Poinciana.
[ Raw: Polk County teacher drags student ]
Documents show the state fined Edge, put him on probation and sent him a letter of reprimand saying, in part, “By your actions, you have lessened the reputation of all who practice our profession.”
But Edge still has a teaching job in Florida.
“I don’t understand how that’s even possible,” said parent Robert Maggio.
Maggio, whose daughter is a student at Lake Marion Creek Middle School, said he doesn’t understand why the state didn’t punish Edge more harshly.
“At the very least, the license should have been revoked,” said Maggio.
Channel 9’s Mike Manzoni went through state records and found the state yanked another Polk County teacher’s license last year after she hit students with a ruler.
Polk County school district officials said last year the concrete dragging incident wasn’t the first time Edge has hurt a student at the school.
They said Edge grabbed another student by the wrist and pulled the boy down a hallway in 2014.
“As a parent, I wouldn’t want a teacher working in any school that treats my child that way,” said parent Kathy Ortiz.
Manzoni contacted the State Board of Education to ask why Edge still has his license if other teachers who have hit students lost their licenses, but has not heard back.