Miami middle school teacher accused of Spartan-kicking student

When 13-year-old Michael Marrero arrived home from Rockway Middle School after what began as a routine school day in mid-December 2025, he nervously revealed to his mother how the dark bruise took form on his arm: his history teacher had kicked him to the ground earlier that day.

After Michael revealed the reason for his bruise that evening, his mom and sister took him to a doctor at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, who reported what happened to the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF).

An incident report from a Miami-Dade Schools Police officer, who visited the family’s home after receiving the DCF report, said Michael “appeared to have a visible bruise on his left forearm.” A supplemental report from an investigator who reviewed the incident as a personnel matter noted that a witness reported seeing Michael block the kick with his arm and then hearing him say, “Yo, that was a hard kick.” The law and history teacher at Rockway, Alejandro Suarez, who also chairs the social studies department, provided a written statement to the investigator, in which he acknowledged swiping at the student with his leg.

According to the statement, some students, including Michael, poked him on the way back to class from lunch. Michael had poked him twice after he asked the groups of students to stop. At that point, he writes, “I swiped my leg in his direction and he put his arm down towards my leg making contact.”

“We continued to the classroom where he said his arm hurt and that I assaulted him,” Suarez says in the written statement. “As his law teacher, I replied I didn’t assault you MM but I can show you what assault is,” the report continues. “At this point I saw his arm which had a small bruise and asked him if he wanted to go to the nurse.”

Marrero recalled the incident in a phone interview with Miami New Times. Suarez was walking with Marrero and the rest of his class from lunch back to their classroom when the student apparently annoyed his teacher with questions about a final project on Egyptian gods, Michael said. As he would later tell a Miami-Dade Police student resource officer, he tapped Suarez on the shoulder to ask whether the project could pull his grade up from a B to an A. Marrero says Suarez, who never answered his inquiry, turned around and gave him a gentle push with both hands.

So, Marrero tapped him on the shoulder again, the 13-year-old told New Times, and that’s when Suarez Spartan-kicked the teenager on his left arm — the same arm Suarez had seen in a cast weeks earlier from a football injury.

“It was such a painful hit with sharp pain, and I crouched down,” Marrero recalled.

It was not clear from the school police report whether the teacher faced any disciplinary action from the school board.

The police report details what allegedly happened once the students returned to their classroom: Michael told Suarez, “You assaulted me,” and the teacher responded, “Do you really want to see what assault is?” echoing Suarez’s written statement.

School district officials didn’t return New Times‘ request for comment. Suarez couldn’t be reached via his school district email. Miami-Dade School District representatives also failed to answer specific questions about this case despite initially responding to a New Times email.

The kick happened right before winter break, so Michael’s family thought the school was handling the situation. Michael, however, had to relive the incident when he saw Suarez back at school after the break. In a panic, he called his sister, who called the school to complain and ask why Suarez was still allowed to teach her brother.

Michael’s family was outraged when they learned what had happened. But their anger over the December 19 incident intensified when the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office told them it declined to pursue charges against Suarez. In an April email to the family, Tim VanderGiesen, chief of the office’s public corruption unit, said he had determined there was insufficient evidence of a crime. He had also reviewed a prosecutor’s decision not to file charges at the family’s request.

“As it is not clear why Michael had to touch Mr. Suarez twice, Michael’s actions seem more likely to be horseplay than an effort to get information as he described it,” VanderGiesen wrote in an email to Michael’s family.

He added that the video showed the teacher “appearing to try to kick Michael in his buttocks area with minimal force” and that Florida law offers broad protections and discretion to interactions between students and teachers.

“Since Michael continued to touch Mr. Suarez without Mr. Suarez’s consent, Mr. Suarez was permitted to take reasonable steps to address the behavior,” VanderGiesen wrote. “The law allows for a teacher to impose corporal punishment and essence stand in the shoes of the parent. Under the circumstances, a de minimis kick to the buttocks does not rise to the level of a crime.”

However, according to district documents, corporal punishment is not allowed in Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Melissa Aguila, Michael’s older sister and an aspiring lawyer, told New Times the school severely mishandled the incident: the school opted not to call police, seemingly didn’t begin taking the accusation seriously until the family complained later that night, and only suspended Suarez after a frightened Michael returned to school and his family asked what was happening with the investigation.

The day of the kick, the assistant principal initially called Michael’s mom and told her simply that there was an “incident” at school, but said Michael could tell them more, Aguila says. The school also failed to call the police, as is required by the Florida Department of Education when a student is the victim of assault. A school nurse told a Miami-Dade Schools Police investigator that she didn’t notify the school resource officer because it was the last day of school before winter break, just prior to dismissal.

The school district, which is set to complete its internal investigation sometime this summer, failed to suspend Suarez until January, Aguila says. (The district did not confirm Suarez’s suspension.)

Aguila, however, isn’t going to wait around for accountability for her brother. She’s set to become a lawyer in the fall after taking the Florida Bar Exam and wants to file a civil lawsuit against the Miami-Dade County School District and Suarez for her first legal proceeding as an attorney, she tells New Times.

“We’re not going to accept any settlement,” she said. “I have worked with attorneys for the last four years and have spoken to many. Everyone said he should have been charged.”