Abuse charge dropped against Pembroke Pines music teacher after student scuffle
A Pembroke Pines teacher has been cleared of child abuse charges after a scuffle with a student at a charter school, according to Broward court records.
Prosecutors declined to pursue a third-degree felony charge for child abuse without causing great bodily harm against Marcos Rodriguez, a 50-year-old choir director at Franklin Academy Pembroke Pines.
Charges were dropped six weeks after video showed the midday lunchtime disruption turned physical at the K-12 school, leading to his arrest.
“From the outset, Mr. Rodriguez maintained that the full facts would show that criminal charges were not warranted,” Rodriguez’s attorney, Dustin Tischler, told the Pembroke Pines News on July 8.
“Mr. Rodriguez has dedicated more than 20 years of his life to serving others, both as a veteran and a teacher. He has spent his career working with students and supporting his community, and this matter has been extremely difficult for him and his family.”
Franklin Academy Pembroke Pines has not responded to the Pembroke Pines News’ request for comment as of July 8.
The scuffle
According to Rodriguez’s arrest report, the May 26 altercation was captured on security footage and started when the choir director exited his second-floor classroom at around noon after reportedly hearing students banging on an outside wall.
In the video, the choir director runs in front of a student walking down the hallway, “grabs his lanyard with his left hand and pulls it toward him,” causing the student “to bend forward and break his posture,” police said.
Rodriguez tried to grab the student’s ID with his right hand and tugged hard enough that the boy, who Pembroke Pines police say was taller than the teacher, was “seen having to walk forward due to the pulling.”
That prompted the student to push the teacher to “build distance between both parties,” with Rodriguez ending up with his back against the wall, until a security guard separated them, according to the report.
The boy told officers he wasn’t part of the group that banged on Rodriguez’s classroom wall. The boy stayed behind while the other students ran away after the teacher stepped outside and demanded they go to the school’s administrative office, according to police.
Rodriguez reportedly told the boy to come with him to the office, but the student declined and wanted to go with the security guard, according to the boy’s account. The student said as he was walking away, Rodriguez ran in front of him.
Rodriguez told officers the boy walked away and lobbed an expletive at him, prompting the choir director to reach for the student’s ID to identify him, according to the report.
Investigators wrote Rodriguez snatched the lanyard “in an aggressive manner” and kept pulling on it throughout the altercation, leading police to arrest the teacher.
The choir director, whose LinkedIn shows he’s worked at Franklin Academy since July 2024, was booked into Broward Main Jail and released on a $2,500 bond the following day, according to court records.
He submitted a plea of not guilty and requested a jury trial on June 3.
What’s next?
Whether Rodriguez will return to Franklin Academy is unclear as of July 8. Tischler told the Pembroke Pines News that neither he nor the music teacher know if Rodriguez will resume his position in August.
Rodriguez’s LinkedIn shows he’s still employed by the charter school system as a choral and orchestra director and assistant band conductor.
“Mr. Rodriguez looks forward to moving forward and continuing his commitment to education and public service,” Tischler added.
