COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — The woman caught on camera yelling racist insults at a mother and kids was placed on administrative leave by the Collier County School District.
According to CCPS’ staff email directory, Patricia Schmidt is employed as an Exceptional Student Education (ESE) Specialist at Lely Elementary School.
The video shows Schmidt mocking the child behind the camera Saturday in the Kings Lake neighborhood. She said, “your son must be special ed. He’s a r—-d. Your son is a r—-d.”
NeighThe child’s mom, who wishes to remain anonymous, said it all started when she and her kids were on a walk and approached a walking path designated for residents along Kings Lake Blvd. “She blares on her horn for like ten seconds, rolls her window down and starts yelling out the window that we can’t walk down that pathway,” she said.
The mother said they were standing on a public sidewalk. Neighbors say Schmidt believed they were trespassing. She was then seen in the video dishing racist remarks to the child. “Are they your mulatto kids? You had sex with a black guy.? Your kids are half breeds. Look at them,” Schmidt said in the video.
NBC2 was the first to tell the mother about where Schmidt is employed. She said, “Who knows how she’s treating them in the classroom when their parents aren’t there to defend them?”
Previous reporting HERE:
Naples Defense Attorney, Mike Carr said what someone does outside of work sometimes teeters the line between Freedom of Speech and misconduct. But in this case, “The conduct is reprehensible and I think it shows somebody who is mentally unbalanced. It sounds like she needs help,” he said.