Parents: Pupil spanking too harsh

SAN BENITO — A kindergartner who feuded and traded bullying charges with a classmate earlier this fall has since gotten a spanking by the assistant principal that left him with a red welt that took days to heal, his parents said.

The 5-year-old is the son of the San Benito police detective who confronted the other boy in an Ed Downs Elementary School classroom last month. The detective’s son was later placed in a different classroom.

His mother said she approved beforehand one light spanking from school officials as a disciplinary measure. But she says now that the marks left on her son were signs of too harsh a punishment for a kindergarten student.

Superintendent of Schools Antonio G. Limón said the school followed proper procedures and safeguards when disciplining the boy.

“I am 100 percent sure that all procedures were followed,” Limón said. “The witness statement indicates (the spanking) was not excessive.”

The incident occurred Oct. 10, a month after San Benito Police Detective Arturo Flores told his son’s classmate that he didn’t appreciate his son being called a bully.

The other boy’s mother, Diana Falcon, criticized both school and city officials for not taking action against Flores after the confrontation. Both families claim their children told them they were each being bullied by the other.

After the confrontation, Flores’ son was transferred to another classroom.

But their problems didn’t end there, said Sylvia Flores, the boy’s mother and wife of Detective Arturo Flores.

Sylvia Flores said her child isn’t perfect, and said that he can misbehave.

“I accept full responsibility for my child’s actions,” she said, adding that she kept in close contact with the school staff and administration after the conflict between the children came to their attention.

The spanking, she said, was the result of “little things that led up to a lot.” According to an offense report filed at the San Benito Police Department, Detective Flores said the boy received a disciplinary “referral” for not listening to his teacher and for looking for a toy in another student’s backpack.

Assistant Principal Stephanie Ramirez recommended to Flores, the mother, that the boy be spanked. Limón said spanking, known as “corporal punishment,” is used when all other disciplinary options already have been used.

Flores said she gave permission for the spanking, but also asked to be present. She said she was told that another school official would be present in the room as a witness. The boy would only be spanked lightly once, she was told.

Flores agreed and asked that Ramirez call her before her son was spanked.

“I did give parental consent in good faith that it would be a light swat,” she said.

Flores said she was informed of the spanking through her son’s teacher. She never got a phone about the discipline, she said.

Afterward, her son complained to his father that his buttocks hurt, Flores said. Neither parent had checked their son after picking him up from school, a police report shows. In the offense report, Detective Flores stated he thought that the swat would not be that serious.

The parents noticed a red welt on their son at 7:30 p.m. when giving the boy a bath, the report read. The police report states that the red, puffy welt was about 3 inches in length and about an inch wide in diameter.“When we saw that, he told my husband, ‘Daddy, I told you it hurt a lot,’” Flores said.

They called the San Benito CISD police department, but were unable to contact an officer at that time, Flores said.They later met with San Benito police at Dolly Vinsant Memorial Hospital where the boy was checked by a doctor and his injury photographed, Flores said.

The offense report shows that the wooden paddle used by Ramirez was 1 inch thick, 3 inches wide, and 22.5 inches long.

“That’s like something that’s used at middle schools or high schools,” Flores said. “I expected a plastic paddle.”

Limón said spankings are still legal in Texas, and as a former principal who used the method, he said he is comfortable with the disciplinary action.

“I think it’s a good policy,” he said. “It’s not abuse.”

The case is still under investigation with school police, Limón said.

Public Safety Director Orlando Garcia said San Benito police have completed their investigation and have sent the case to the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office.

After reviewing the case, the DA’s office will determine if any charges will be filed, Garcia explained.

Officials with the DA’s office could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Flores said she and her husband suspect the harsh swatting was retaliation against the boy after his father approached another boy in a classroom a month earlier.

“We can’t prove it and we probably never will,” Flores said. “But we think so.”

Limón said the school takes the education and safety of the students very seriously.

Additionally, faculty are trained when following through with corporal punishment.

Retaliation played no part in the spanking, Limón said.

“Absolutely not,” he said of the accusation. “This was not the consequence of an altercation, and it has nothing to do with retaliation. We do not target children.”

Since the swatting, Limón has helped the parents transfer the boy to another school within the district at the parents’ request, he said.

“It’s a shame this needed to happen, but it happened to us,” Flores said. “My 5-year-old doesn’t want to go back to school when he should be enjoying it and having fun.

“This is not how we wanted his education career to start.”