Substitute teacher arrested after organizing student fights in classroom
A substitute teacher in Texas was arrested after a video of her organizing student fights in a classroom was leaked.
The incident happened on Wednesday, April 12 at Kimbrough Middle School in Mesquite, a suburb of Dallas.
The substitute teacher, later identified as Natally Garcia, 24, reportedly told students to put their phones away before the fights, but one student managed to capture the incident on video.
In the video, Garcia can be heard outlining rules for the fights and asking one student to guard the door in case other staff member tried to get in.
‘What I need you to do is stand by that door and hold it in case somebody comes in,’ she can be heard saying.
The video was sent to Mesquite Independent School District (MISD), who promptly launched an investigation.
Garcia was fired from her job at Kimbrough Middle School after the investigation. She had worked at the school since March 6.
The district then forwarded the video to the Mesquite Police Department on April 13. On Monday afternoon, Garcia was charged with four counts of endangering a child.
‘Investigators determined that Garcia engaged in conduct that placed four students in danger of bodily injury,’ the police department stated.
Jail records indicate Garcia is currently being held at Mesquite Police Jail.
The school district called her behavior ‘appalling and intolerable.’
‘As educators, our hearts are heavy knowing that an individual entrusted with the supervision and care of our students would behave in this manner, and we share the disgust that the families of students in the class must feel,’ MISD stated.
The district also confirmed that Garcia is ineligible for rehire in any capacity at MISD.
Beatriz Martinez said her 13-year-old daughter was the student who secretly filmed the incident. ‘This is not going to be swept under the rug,’ she told WFAA. ‘What she did was unacceptable. It’s disgusting.’
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