A new report is detailing how a teacher at Griffin Middle School is accused of letting students fight one another in her classroom during school hours. This report saying it happened more than once.
Parent's of children at Griffin Middle School were shocked to hear about what's been going on in a sixth grade classroom. However, the school district is taking immediate action by terminating the teacher and conducting an internal investigation.
"It's really scary. It makes me not want to put my child in that school," said Kirsti Henry.
Henry's oldest daughter is a seventh grader at Griffin Middle School. She said her daughter told her about fights that were happening between students in one of the teacher's classrooms.
"Like what in the world is going on here? I posted it on Facebook and I'm like y'all need to check up on y'all kids because that's crazy," said Henry.
Court documents show that Griffin Middle School Teacher Angel Footman allowed three fights between sixth grade students in her classroom at the end of March.
"This is completely out of left field. Something like this has never really taken place on Leon County School's campus," said Chris Petely.
Leon County Spokesperson Chris Petely said the district was notified of the fights after administration reported videos of them to the school resource deputy.
According to documents, students said the fights were pre-planned and Footman told them '30 seconds, no screaming or yelling and no phones'. Footman also does not intervene or attempt to stop the fights, call for help, or leave the classroom to get help.
She claims the fights all happened to fast for her to do anything and admits that she has poor classroom management skills.
Petely said once Superintendent Rocky Hanna found out about the fights, he took immediate action by reaching out to law enforcement and terminating Footman.
Footman was arrested and charged with four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor last Friday.
Petely said that the school district is working with law enforcement and actively conducting an internal safety and security investigation.
"They're talking to parents involved, to any administrator that may be involved and as well as the students, but I think it's also important to let folks now that right now none of the students are facing any disciplinary actions for their participation in this activity," said Petely.
As an isolated incident, Petely said this isn't how all teachers handle their students.
"The high majority of teachers in Leon County Schools are amazing individuals. They get up everyday to work to help your children achieve the next step. This is by no way a reflection of our teachers as a whole," said Petely.
Court documents also show that Footman's arraignment date is set for May 4. If found guilty, she could be facing up to one year in jail, twelve months of probation and other fines.
