A Mesa Middle School teacher arrested last month for allegedly injuring a student in her classroom will not be charged with a crime, the SLO County District Attorney’s Office announced on May 10.
Sarah Watts, an eighth grade math teacher, was arrested on the Arroyo Grande campus on April 25, hours after she allegedly caused scratches and a paper cut to a student’s hands and temple.
During the incident, Watts snatched a hairbrush from the student’s hand after she refused to follow her repeated demands to put it away, scratching two fingers, according to the DA’s Office.
Later in the class, Watts allegedly “dropped or threw paper schoolwork towards the same student,” causing a paper cut on her temple.
According to the district’s teachers union—the Lucia Mar Unified Teachers Association (LMUTA)—the student involved is the daughter of a SLO County Sheriff’s deputy. Neither the Sheriff’s Office nor the DA’s Office has confirmed or denied that.
Following her arrest, the SLO Sheriff’s Office recommended felony child abuse charges against Watts—but prosecutors disagreed.
After reviewing the case, the DA’s Office said it found that Watts used “the same degree of physical force or control that a parent would be legally privileged to exercise under the circumstances.”
It added that the student’s injuries were “very minimal.”
“It is apparent that several students in the classroom were unruly and this specific student’s brushing of their hair was disrupting the teacher’s ability to maintain a proper and appropriate environment conducive to learning,” the DA’s Office said in a May 10 press release. “Given the totality of the evidence and applicable law, the charge of child abuse causing injury in both the hairbrush incident and paperwork incident cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and the request to file criminal charges has been declined.”
Watts’ arrest sparked a community-wide debate, with some questioning whether the teacher’s conduct necessitated any criminal scrutiny from the Sheriff’s Office. In the immediate aftermath of the arrest, the LMUTA expressed its outrage to union members.
“The actions of the sheriff’s department were egregious,” read an April 26 email obtained by New Times. “This specific matter was being handled swiftly and appropriately by district administration prior to law enforcement’s encroachment onto the school campus. … And while many believe this dramatic demonstration of power was exercised only because the accusing student was a child of a sheriff’s deputy, we are horrified by the precedent it sets for our profession nationwide.”
The LMUTA email added that Watts’ exchange with the student only highlighted “a greater need for administrative support for unruly student behaviors in our classrooms.”
“This year has brought unprecedented levels of defiance and disruption; teachers’ calls for support should not be ignored,” the email read.
The LMUTA did not respond to a New Times request for comment before press time.
After the incident, Watts was placed on administrative leave by the school district. While Lucia Mar district officials did not return requests for comment about her employment status by press time, Watts’ school email was inactive on May 10.
Tony Cipolla, public information officer for the SLO Sheriff’s Office, defended the agency’s arrest in a statement to New Times on May 10. He did not address a question about the student’s relationship to a sheriff’s deputy.
“The Sheriff’s Office made a lawful arrest based on the circumstances of the situation at that time. When a child has an injury caused by an adult, we have an obligation to take action,” Cipolla wrote by email. “The DA’s Office has made its decision, and we accept that decision. We have no further comment at this time.”
In assessing the case, the DA’s Office reviewed investigative reports, photographs, and body-worn camera footage, according to its press release.
Prosecutors reviewed video footage of the student’s father “at the scene” expressing skepticism to his daughter that her injuries occurred on that day.
“He thought the scratch near her temple was from a separate incident occurring the day before and that the scratches on the student’s two fingers appeared to be ‘old,'” the DA’s Office said.
Its investigation found that the injuries were accidental and didn’t rise to the level of a felony child abuse case.
“The student themselves stated that they did not believe Ms. Watts intended to the injure them during the incident,” the DA’s Office said. “Other students present in the classroom corroborated this description.”
“Ms. Watts’ conduct is subject to review by the school and district administration” it added, “and is more appropriately addressed through the administrative process.” Δ
This article appears in May 11-21, 2023.
Seriously, maybe this deputy needs to reign in his daughter….then to prosecute this on a felony level…wow because its a cops kid. the kid should be prosecuted