Florida girl arrested after biting school employee at Matanzas High School during a fight, deputies say

PALM COAST, Fla. - A Matanzas High School student was arrested after she allegedly bit a school employee who was trying to break up a fight last week, according to deputies.

The 16-year-old girl was taken into custody on a charge of battery of a school official Friday afternoon and was later transferred to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, the Flagler Sheriff's Office said in a news release. 

Authorities said she and another female student got into a fight in the school's courtyard. When a staff member tried to separate the teenagers, one of the students bit the employee on the forearm multiple times, causing an injury. 

FOX 35 News is not naming the student due to her age. 

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"This lack of respect for teachers and staff will not be tolerated in our schools," Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly said in a statement. "School staff and teachers are here to teach you. Don’t fight in school. It takes a bigger person to walk away from a fight and de-escalate the situation than to engage in a fight or attack a faculty member."

Staly also urged parents to talk and teach their students how to handle disagreements without fighting resulting to violence. 

"Otherwise, if you don’t do your job as a parent, we will do our job and arrest your child, which we don’t want to do, but we will not tolerate this kind of behavior in our schools," Staly said. 

Earlier this year, another Matanzas High student was arrested after deputies said he violently attacked and knocked a teacher's aide unconscious. 

That incident was caught on the school's surveillance camera.