A Lake Wales woman was arrested Wednesday and charged with one count of child abuse, authorities said.
Clara McGriff, 52, of Lake Wales, who is employed by the Polk County School Board as a school bus attendant has been charged with physically assaulting a child on the bus.
According to the arrest report, McGriff struck a 7-year-old special needs student several times while on the bus on December 3rd. The special needs student, who suffers from ADD and ADHD, was in a harness at the time of the incident.
According to a video (not being released) of the incident, McGriff said, ” I am tired of you,” after a shoe was tossed by the child. The affidavit states that McGriff threw back the shoe at the child, but it’s not clear if the kid was struck. She then hit the child 8 or 9 times, after the kid tossed the shoe another time.
McGriff also physically pressed the boy up against the bus wall and window for several seconds, according to the arrest report.
See Clara McGriff’s arrest report here.
McGriff, who was booked into the Polk County Jail Thursday, will make her first appearance at a hearing tomorrow, December 12. She has been suspended without pay.
Superintendent of Schools, Kathryn M. LeRoy will recommend McGriff’s termination to the Polk County School Board in January 2015.
