Shavonne Johnson
Brooklyn, NY — Shavonne Johnson, a 37-year-old substitute teacher at Public School 66 in Canarsie, Brooklyn, got arrested after chomping down on a kindergarten student’s hand. Her lawyer claims that she only did that in self-defense because the child bit her first.
Johnson was charged with assault when the school safety officer saw some redness on the 5-year-old student’s hand.
Andrew Stoll, her lawyer, argued that Johnson bit the student because she is too clingy and she wouldn’t stop biting her. He said, “Does she need to wait for him to bite off a piece of flesh before she does what she needs to do?” He also added that the child was known as a biter.
Johnson got her Master’s Degree in Education from Touro College. Since 2016, she has been a substitute teacher with Department of Education and has worked with disabled students. She had been teaching at PS 66 for about three weeks.
Furthermore, Stoll said, “The system should get behind its teachers. They should really give their teachers the benefit of the doubt.”
Johnson hasn’t said anything about the incident yet ever since she left Brooklyn Criminal Court for her arraignment.
She has been immediately terminated, according to the Department of Education. “There is no place for this alleged behavior in our schools,” said Douglas Cohen, a DOE spokesman.