The founder of a private school in Georgia pleaded guilty this week to first-degree child cruelty after being accused of choking and beating eight students — sometimes with a yardstick.

Linda Terrell McLean, who owns Favor Christian Academy in Thomasville, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges including 11 counts of cruelty to children and four counts of aggravated assault after being indicted in 2017, the Thomasville Times-Enterprise reports.

An 18-count indictment accused McLean of hitting one child at the school with a ruler, while another student told authorities she struck him repeatedly with a belt inside a lunchroom as other children looked on. Favor Christian enrolls students in pre-K through eighth grade.

McLean also allegedly forced a student to hold down another child as she whipped the boy with a yardstick, the newspaper reports.

Another student told authorities McLean grabbed and shook her. All of the incidents took place in 2016 except for one that occurred in 2015, according to the indictment.

McLean’s sentencing date has not yet been set, but she faces up to a combined 180 years in prison or on probation, the newspaper reports.

As part of her plea, video footage of the alleged beatings was not shown in court, WCTV reports. McLean remains free on $50,000 bond and has moved across the state to Atlanta, the station reports.