East Texas agriculture teacher charged with animal cruelty after ‘deeply troubling incident’

PALESTINE, Texas — An East Texas agriculture teacher was charged with animal cruelty this weekend in connection with a “troubling incident” during agricultural animal science class. 

Emily Marie Benner was booked into the Anderson County Jail on Sunday and released the same day on a $7,500 bond. 

According to the Westwood ISD website, Brenner is the agriculture animal teacher at the school district located in Palestine. 

On Monday, Superintendent Wade Stanford issued a letter to parents, students and the community, the district staff became aware of a “deeply troubling incident” that happened during the agricultural animal science class on Friday. 

Standford said that incident amounted to animal cruelty, and he said, “we want to make it absolutely clear that our district takes such matters extremely seriously.” 

“This behavior is not in line with the values and standards we uphold within our district, and we are committed to taking immediate and decisive action to address this issue,” Stanford said. 

He apologized to the students, their families and the whole community for this “unacceptable occurrence.” He assured people that the district would implement measures to prevent any future incidents. 

Stanford’s letter did not mention Brenner by name. 

Britni Calzada, Westwood ISD public relations coordinator, said the district does not comment on personnel matters. She said the incident is an ongoing investigation that’s getting handled by authorities.