VT. Student admits hitting teacher

A Mount Anthony Union High School student will go before the reparative board after admitting in Bennington criminal court Monday to hitting her gym teacher in the face Jan. 10 because the teacher was “pushing her buttons.”

Jackalyn Shartrand, 17, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of simple assault Monday after a lengthy discussion with Judge Nancy Corsones. The judge said she wanted to be sure, because of Shartrand’s age and because she declined to work with a lawyer, that Shartrand understood the consequences of her plea.

In an affidavit, Cpl. Gray Harrington, of the Bennington County Sheriff’s Department, said he had investigated an allegation Jan. 10 that Shartrand had hit Lorrie Carra, her physical education teacher.

In a written statement, Carra said she had confronted four students, including Shartrand, about being tardy to her class that day and on previous days.

Carra said the situation escalated during the duration of that day’s class until she sent Shartrand to the principal’s office for allegedly being “loud and disrespectful.” Carra said Shartrand then hit her in the mouth and began to yell obscenities at her.

Harrington said the incident happened in front of a class of 40 students.

Shartrand and her mother, Stacey Shartrand, came to the sheriff’s department Jan. 12, Harrington said.

The teen admitted that she hit the gym teacher. She said Carra has “always disliked her” and called her “stupid” that day. She also accused Carra of “pushing her buttons.”

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