A Miami teacher questioned mom’s parenting skills. So the mom struck her and spat, cops say
On Valentine’s Day, Palmetto Middle School principal Jesus Gonzalez invited parent Stephanie Armas to discuss issues her child was having with students at school.
Eighth grade social studies teacher Mayade Ersoff, the student’s teacher, and assistant principal Isamara Berrios were also asked to join.
What ensued, however, was an altercation between the parent and teacher that ended with Armas, 34, being arrested and charged with battery after she allegedly struck the teacher, spat on the principal’s desk and threw a picture frame as the teacher was leaving through a back door.
The next day, Feb. 15, Armas was arrested at her home and booked into Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in west Miami-Dade. She posted a $1,500 bond and was released.
Armas’ court date is set for March 8; she has entered a plea of not guilty.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools declined to comment on the incident, but in a statement said the school community, “including employees and visitors, is reminded to do its part by serving as positive role models for the students of this district and avoid disrupting the safe and positive learning environment that is expected at all of our schools.”
What happened during the meeting
Days prior to the altercation, Armas’ child was “threatened in school and reported it to his teacher,” according to her lawyer Frank Quintero, a prominent Coral Gables defense attorney who also represents former Republican state Sen. Frank Artiles. (Quintero is a longtime family friend of Armas’ husband’s family, he said.)
The teacher, Ersoff, 59, however, didn’t report to the principal what the student had told her until a few days later, Quintero said. Once the principal was made aware of the student’s account, he said, he called a meeting with the parent for the following Monday, Feb. 14. At the same time, Ersoff emailed Armas about her child’s disruptive conduct in class, but failed to mention the assault the student had informed her of, according to Quintero’s account.
For her part, Ersoff said she reported the student’s story “right away. I called the assistant principal and said a student had been threatened verbally.” Ersoff did email Armas about her child’s behavior in class, but omitted the student’s report about being threatened because she felt it was the school administrator’s role to inform the parent of such an issue, she said.
The district did not make available the school administrators to comment for this article.
Once in the meeting, Ersoff explained to Armas that her son was acting up in class, to which Armas said that was likely a reaction to being assaulted, Quintero said.
“You need to learn how to raise your child,” Ersoff replied, according to the arrest affidavit filed by Miami-Dade Schools Police.
At that point, Armas “stood up, raised her right arm and struck [Ersoff] on the left shoulder,” according to the affidavit. The principal and assistant principal intervened and had Ersoff leave the office through a back door. While Ersoff was leaving through the back, Armas “picked up a picture frame from the desk and threw it against the back wall [and] spat on [Gonzalez’s] desk,” the affidavit said.
Quintero, however, painted a different picture. He said after Ersoff’s remarks about Armas’ parenting, Ersoff “made a move toward my client” when Gonzalez instructed her to exit the room. Armas felt threatened, according to Quintero, “so she [swung] her purse to protect herself.” (The affidavit does not mention a purse.)
Ersoff, in an interview with the Herald, acknowledged she told Armas to “raise her son properly” and she acknowledged that she was glad Armas’ son would no longer be in her class because “he was so disruptive.” But, she denied making any motion toward her.
“I would never in the world think to hit someone, or a parent. It would never cross my mind,” Ersoff said. “I could have defended myself, but I didn’t.”
After the incident, Ersoff said she left the office and called the on-site school police officer. She then decided to press charges.
A second incident
On Feb. 25, nearly two weeks after the altercation, Ersoff again called the police — this time the Village of Pinecrest Police Department — saying the student was on campus, near the teachers’ parking lot, riding his bike around the school.
Ersoff, according to the Pinecrest police report, said “she felt worried when she heard the student was around because she was scared his mother would come back and try something again.”
But Armas, Quintero said, was not on campus to approach Ersoff. Instead, he added, Armas had taken her son to the school at 7351 SW 128th St. in Pinecrest to “say goodbye to his friends” because his mom was taking him out of school. (He’s moving to Georgia, according to the Pinecrest police report.)
Miami-Dade Schools did not comment on whether the student was instructed to leave the school or if the family took him out on their own accord.
After police arrived, they informed the student to “not be in the vicinity of the school” and they advised Ersoff to request a restraining order against Armas, according to the report.
Repercussions since school mom incident
For Ersoff, the last few weeks have been “very uncomfortable.”
“All I’ve heard over the years is that teachers are afraid to talk because of retribution,” she said. As a teacher, though, she wants her voice and teachers’ voices to be heard and respected. “If [the district] wants to have any teachers left, they need to support them.”
It’s becoming the norm for parents to disrespect teachers, she said.
Still, Quintero said, his client was “defending herself.”
On March 8, the state is expected to file formal charges against Armas, if any, according to Quintero. Then, within 15 days, the state is to provide any evidence it has.
This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 4:11 PM.
