A longtime Seminole County science teacher faces a child-abuse charge after authorities say she dragged a seventh-grader roughly 20 feet from his desk into a hallway, though her lawyer calls it a simple escort of a misbehaving student with no injury.
Fada Concepcion, 52, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of child abuse without great bodily harm following a September 29 incident during third period at Tuskawilla Middle School. Investigators reported she grabbed the boy by the arm and pulled him from the classroom into an exterior hallway, a sequence captured on school surveillance video.
The student later told school officials what happened. Staff reviewed the footage and contacted the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies questioned Concepcion, who said she had “no recollection” of dragging the student and maintained she had simply escorted him out.
Concepcion had worked for Seminole County Public Schools for 29 years, according to the district. She taught seventh-grade science at the school. Cases of educators crossing lines with students keep surfacing, including a California teacher and coach arrested on suspicion of sex crimes against a former student.
Her attorney argued Friday that the episode never rose to child abuse. The lawyer told the court the student was misbehaving and that word choice matters.
"The student was misbehaving, and my client used the word ‘escorting’... the detective used the words ‘drag’,"
The same attorney stressed the lack of physical harm documented in the paperwork.
"Basically, grabbed the child by the arm and took him out of the classroom, and there’s no indication in this probable cause affidavit that the student was injured in any way, no bruising on the arm, no other type of injury,"
He added a legal bottom line.
"Child abuse requires more than just touching a child."
A judge found probable cause for the case to move forward anyway. The court cut Concepcion’s bond from $5,000 to $1,000, barred her from contacting the student, and ordered her not to return to Tuskawilla Middle School. After the ruling she flashed a double thumbs-up to her lawyer. She is due back in court in November.
School-system problems do not stop at one county line. A separate middle-school scandal saw a Nashville officer resign after filming on-duty sexual encounters inside a middle school with children present.
Seminole County Public Schools placed Concepcion on administrative leave pending the investigation’s outcome. A district spokesperson said the system treats student safety claims with urgency.
"We take all allegations involving our students’ safety and well-being seriously and will respond quickly."
The spokesperson added that the district is coordinating with law enforcement and its own Office of Professional Standards under existing policies. Attorney Tony Duran, also linked to Concepcion’s defense, told The Post he does not discuss pending litigation.
Surveillance video of the hallway incident has not been released publicly. No calendar date beyond the relative Thursday arrest and Friday hearing appears in the available accounts, and the student’s name remains withheld.
High-profile accountability fights around child-related cases continue to draw attention, even odd ones such as when Ghislaine Maxwell reportedly caused a prison-wide lockdown over a missing $30 sweater.
Classroom order matters. So does the boundary between firm escort and force that leaves a child reporting abuse. Parents and taxpayers expect both discipline and restraint when adults hold power over seventh-graders.
