DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A substitute teacher is facing charges after school officials said he got into a fistfight with a student outside the school cafeteria.
Video shows the teacher and student throwing punches at each other at Redan High School on Thursday.
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Channel 2′s Bryan Mims was a the school Friday, where the substitute, who has not been identified, is now not allowed to set foot on campus -- or any other campus in DeKalb County.
The fight happened outside the school cafeteria during lunch.
With their parents’ permission, Mims spoke to students off campus about what they saw and heard.
“The substitute teacher, he was trying to tell him something that the student didn’t really like,” Kayla Lynum, a senior, told Mims. “It escalated to them going back and forth.”
She said the fight started when the teacher put his hand up to the student.
“And then the student pushed him back, and the substitute teacher took off his badge, and you know, they started fighting,” Lynum said.
In a written response, DeKalb County School District spokesman Donald Porter said neither the teacher nor the student were seriously hurt.
Tytiana Kilgore, a junior, heard the fight starting.
“It was loud,” Kilgore said. “You just heard students like, yelling. I went out there and saw the teacher laying there.”
Video shows a man who appears to be a security officer intervene and fall to the floor with the student and teacher.
Students said the substitute’s behavior was uncalled for.
“Because he’s an adult,” Kilgore said. “He’s most definitely still grown. Even though he got pushed, he could have handled it more mature. He could have walked off and told security. Security was right there.”
The student’s name has not been released. He does face disciplinary action.
The school spokesman said staff is working closely with district police to address the incident.
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