James Walworth, 29, of Cape Coral is scheduled for court arraignment Monday on charges he spanked a year-old student 50 times with his bare hand. He has pleaded innocent. The state attorney's office charged Walworth on July 6 in connection with the May 23 incident at Diplomat Elementary School.
Walworth taught emotionally handicapped children with behavior problems. According to court records, Walworth took the fifth-grade boy into the bathroom of the teacher's planning room, laid the boy over his lap and spanked him with the boy's underwear pulled down.
The boy told investigators he'd been misbehaving by whistling, talking and eating Skittles candy in class. We don't allow it. Walworth, who had taught at Diplomat Elementary since , had been suspended with pay pending a school district investigation. The investigation closed July 25 when he resigned. Dattola said records from the investigation couldn't be viewed until Friday because names of juveniles had to be blacked out.
However, because it's his first offense, he likely won't face jail time, Schall said. The "board of education" may return to Brownwood schools if district trustees find enough support among parents for corporal punishment. During a recent school board meeting, a motion was made to add the disciplinary option to the Brownwood Independent School District's code of conduct. A code without corporal punishment was adopted, though parents will be surveyed this fall about adding it in the future.
A spot check of other Big Country school districts showed that corporal punishment is an option in most districts, but one that is rarely used. Administrators and parents have varied opinions about the effectiveness of applying the paddle - or "board of education," as it is sometimes called. Brownwood Superintendent Sue Jones is unsure how long ago the district dropped corporal punishment, but said it has been at least five years.
