Substitute teacher charged with assaulting student

JACKSON, Tenn. — A substitute teacher accused of assaulting a 9-year-old student turns herself in to Jackson police Tuesday.

Valerie Fuller

Valerie Fuller, 58, was charged with simple assault Tuesday morning after being accused of assaulting a 9-year-old boy at Isaac Lane Elementary.

An emotional Fuller said off camera in her 15 years as a substitute teacher in the district she’s never had a complaint until a few weeks ago at Isaac Lane when students in the class she was watching got out of control.

Fuller says on March 31 she wrote that student up for fighting a classmate. She says he wasn’t following instructions when asked to go to the office and that her motherly instincts kicked in.

According to the court documents, a witness told police Fuller hit the boy in the head, grabbed him by the arm and his body hit the door frame. Jackson police say surveillance video from the school supports the witness’ statement. Fuller did admit to touching the boy but says she had no intentions to hurt him.

Fuller says she was distraught to find out there was a warrant for her arrest and she had been terminated from the district after returning home from an family emergency out of town.

Fuller says the district has no training to teach subs how to deal with behavioral issues in the classroom. She says maybe if she was given the opportunity to talk to the boy’s mother about the incident, charges may have never been filed.

Fuller is now free on $1,000 bond. Her next court appearance is on May 8.