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Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Teacher Fired Over Student Beating Video

First on FOX

DAMALI KEITHDAMALI KEITH Reporter
From: http://www.myfoxhouston.com/

HOUSTON - It's a story you saw First on FOX: A charter school has fired one of its teachers -- accused of beating up a student on video.

A classmate captured the entire incident on their cell phone.



The teacher in question, identified by school officials as Sherri Davis, was officially terminated on Monday night.

“Now that officials at Jamie’s House Charter School have been able to review the video on Fox News, we are horrified at the actions of the teacher,” principal David Jones said in a statement.

The video, shared with FOX 26 News by a parent, shows a sixth grade student being kicked and pummeled. The student's parent says the video is now in the hands of Harris County Sheriff's investigators. She says the teacher attacked 13-year-old Isaiah Johnson at the north Harris County charter school in late April.

"I'm horrified. I just can't believe something like that would happen to my child," Alesha Johnson told FOX 26 News.

The attack goes on for nearly a minute. Isaiah Johnson said it felt much longer.

"I was on the wall like this trying to get away from her and she started hitting me, banging my head to the wall and kicking me," Isaiah said.

"He's had a knot on his head for a week. He had a black eye, bruises on his cheek," Alesha added.

Other children in the class were watching and videotaping the attack. You can even hear some laughing.

The alleged incident happened just after TAKS testing two weeks ago.

Isaiah Johnson said it all started as he and other classmates watched and laughed as a mentally challenged girl danced.

That's when he says the teacher attacked the 13-year-old. Isaiah said he was beaten by the teacher, with other teachers looking on, right there in the classroom.

"The teachers piled up and they were looking over each others shoulders just watching," Isaiah said.

David Jones, the principal of the school, released a statement later in the day.

"There is no excuse for a teacher to behave in this way with a child," Jones said. "Although we had already removed the teacher from the classroom and put her on administrative duty, we now plan to terminate the teacher and make an apology to the student and his mother."

Jones said the school will be investigating whether other teachers saw the incident and did not report it.

Alesha Johnson has taken the tape and filed criminal charges with the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Jamie's House Charter School is a Texas Accredited Charter School. It opened in 1999 and is currently in good standing.

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Read the statement regarding the beating video from principal David Jones --

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/100510-principal%3A-no-excuse-for-teacher%27s-actions

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