2 Adults Arrested After Finding Their Way Into Polk Public Schools

LAKELAND, FL — When it happens once, it's a fluke. But Polk County law enforcement officials aren't sure what to call it when they have to arrest adults who manage to find their way into secured public schools twice in one month.

According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, around 11 a.m. on April 12, 39-year-old Ivy Mechelle Smith of Lakeland arrived at Medulla Elementary School at 850 School House Road in Lakeland and entered the main office area where sheriff's safe schools deputies said she began yelling and cursing at the school staff.

She was asked to calm down and stop cursing since there were several students nearby. Smith told them she was upset because her child had received discipline referrals from a teacher and she wanted her child removed from the teacher’s classroom.

A school administrator heard the commotion and approached Smith, who continued to demand that her child be placed in another class. The administrator suggested arranging a meeting to discuss her child’s behavior and the possibility of placing the child in another class.

According to the sheriff's office, instead of setting up a time to meet, Smith announced she was there to retrieve her child and walked past school staff toward the classrooms. The school administrator followed Smith, telling her to stay in the main office and follow the proper procedures to check her child out of class.

The sheriff's office said Smith continued to yell, then pushed the school administrator and attempted to open a set of locked hallway doors.

When Smith realized she could not open the locked doors, she left the school building, jumped over a gate and left the school campus. She then called the 911 communications center and said she wanted deputies to meet her at the CVS at 510 S Florida Ave. and accompany her back to the school.

Instead of accompanying her, deputies arrested Smith and charged her with battery on a school employee, disrupting a school function and trespassing on school grounds. She was taken to the Polk County Jail where she was later released on $1,500 bond.

“There is a right way and a wrong way to present concerns to school administration. This is an example of how to go about it the wrong way," said Polk Sheriff Grady Judd. "Our teachers already have the difficult task of educating our children, and we will never allow anyone to come on our school campuses in this manner, assaulting staff and disrupting classes. That conduct is a guaranteed trip to the county jail.”

It was déjà vu for law enforcement officials Friday when a 33-year-old woman armed with a knife managed to make her way through a locked door at Ridge Community High School in Haines City.

The school's resource officers instantly spotted the woman as she entered the school building around 6:30 a.m. and arrested her without incident.

She was charged with armed trespassing on school property with a weapon, a third-degree felony.

Nonetheless, some parents couldn't help but feel a bit shaken when the school notified them of the incident later that morning, assuring them that all the students were safe.

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