Phenix City school board dismisses teacher accused of throwing object at student
In a called meeting Thursday night, the Phenix City Board of Education dismissed without pay for the remainder of the school year the Central High School teacher accused of throwing an object at a student.
After a 75-minute closed session to discuss the case and another personnel matter, the seven-member board unanimously approved superintendent Randy Wilkes’ recommendation for the dismissal and to pursue termination of the employee.
The alleged confrontation happened Monday and was captured on a video posted to Twitter. As of Thursday afternoon, the video has been viewed more than 8,000 times.
The board didn’t discuss the case or specify its action during the public part of the meeting.
Wilkes declined to comment after the meeting. He instead issued a news release that disclosed the disciplinary action, and wouldn’t confirm or deny the name of the employee mentioned in the Twitter post.
The Ledger-Enquirer broke the news of the teacher’s suspension Tuesday afternoon.
The 45-second video shows only the top of a person’s head, presumably the student. From the audio, the student and a woman, presumably the teacher, are arguing. A sound can be heard, and the top of the student’s head can be seen reacting.
Thursday night’s news release states the employee “threw an object, hitting the student. The student was not injured.”
The Ledger-Enquirer on Wednesday filed a request under the Alabama Open Records Law for a copy of the security camera video that shows the incident. Wilkes replied that he forwarded the request to the board’s attorney. The L-E hasn’t reached the attorney for comment.
The news release also notes the board had approved the employee’s resignation, effective May 26, during its April meeting.
On Tuesday, WRBL reported an interview with the student, where he said the argument was over NBA star LeBron James and his controversial Twitter post about the fatal police shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old Black girl, in Ohio.
The teacher is a white female. The student is a Black male. Neither attended the meeting.
Phenix City Police Chief Ray Smith told the L-E Tuesday that his department isn’t investigating the Central student’s allegation because no one has filed a criminal complaint, but one of the department’s officers who serves as a resource officer at the school is aware of the alleged altercation.
Thursday afternoon, Phenix City Police Capt. Darryl “Joey” Williams told the L-E that status hasn’t changed.
This story was originally published May 6, 2021 at 8:57 PM.
