Jennifer Gaine Hale appears in a mugshot in May 2023. (Lake County Sheriff’s Office)
A middle school substitute teacher in central Florida has been arrested after allegedly allowing a seventh grade student to take a hit off of her vape pen, the Eustis Police Department says.
Jennifer Gaine Hale, 50, stands accused of one count of child abuse in the third degree, according to jail records reviewed by Law&Crime.
According to an affidavit obtained by Orlando-based ABC affiliate WFTV, Hale allowed the boy to smoke from the device because he wanted to “take a hit” from one and try it out. The defendant allegedly overheard the student expressing his desire to try vaping to another student and offered up her own pen, saying: “I have one.”
The incident allegedly occurred during the last period of the day on May 2 at Eustis Middle School, according to Daytona Beach-based NBC affiliate WESH.
According to the arrest affidavit obtained by Inside Lake, the boy hit the vape once and returned it. Hale also allegedly told him to be careful of a salt-like substance on the pen – though the boy was not sure what that salt-like substance was.
After the boy smoked, Hale allegedly asked him not to report her. He apparently did not do so – but another student told a school administrator. The school’s principal called police the next day.
But first, Principal Michael Spencer called Hale to his office to explain herself. She allegedly admitted to loaning out the vape, WFTV reported. Asked to explain her behavior, Spencer said the substitute teacher told him that she was “just trying to fit in.”
The boy who vaped also told police about the incident, according to WFTV, saying that Hale “chimed in” during his conversation with his friend – prompting him to walk up to her desk and try the pen.
Parents were aghast.
“Teachers. It’s scary now,” parent Jennifer Hunter, who has an eighth grader, told WESH. “I never thought a substitute teacher would give my child that or someone else’s child any of that stuff. Just other students. They don’t need to fit in with the kids at all. They need to be more parent-like than fitting in with the kids.”
The boy’s mother was also reportedly “very upset” and wanted to press charges against Hale, according to Inside Lake.
A no contact order was also filed, the public docket for the case in Lake County shows.
“You can’t do this,” Eustis Police Chief Craig Capri told WESH. “You just can’t do it. This should be common sense. She has a responsibility to that classroom to protect kids. Not abuse them.”
“We contacted her, she immediately post-Miranda confessed to doing it,” Capri added. “Her response was she just wanted to fit in. I don’t get it. What is there to fit in? You’re there to teach a class, not to fit in.”
Hale was arrested on May 5 and held on $1,000 bond, which she posted two days later. Her next court date is slated for May 30.
The incident was also reported to the Lake County School Board Human Resources Department. As Hale was escorted off the middle school campus by Principal Spencer, she was reportedly told not to return.
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