Crowley ISD teacher on leave after video shows alleged excessive force used on student
Crowley ISD is investigating an incident involving a teacher accused of using excessive force on a student following a video posted on social media.
The video, which shows a Crowley High Ninth Grade Campus teacher pinning down a student outside a classroom, was taken by another student and shared by @FunkyTownFridge on Twitter Saturday.
The teacher has been put on administrative leave during the investigation, said Anthony Kirchner, chief communications officer for the North Texas school district, in an emailed statement Wednesday.
The video shows a student attempting to leave a classroom, walking toward someone in the hallway. The teacher, whose identity has not been confirmed by the district, is standing in the doorway blocking the student.
In the video, the teacher puts his hands in front of the student, the student responds by saying, “Get your hands off of me,” and the teacher wraps his arm around the student’s neck to pin him to the ground. An additional video posted shows the teacher continuing to hold the student down for an indefinite amount of time.
In the school district’s statement, Crowley ISD said the video was “disturbing and unacceptable.”
“The improper actions taken by the teacher do not align with Crowley ISD’s expectations for our educators, and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken,” according to the statement.
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Tarrant County and the Fort Worth Circle of Clergy on Tuesday requested a meeting with the civil rights office of the U.S. Department of Education to discuss “the rise in racial hostilities and hateful tensions” in North Texas school districts including Crowley ISD.
An email from Pastor Kyev Tatum of Fort Worth’s New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church noted several recent incidents of concern to the SCLC, including the Crowley incident, which the video shows involves a Black student and a white teacher.
The SCLC’s request came after Monday night’s 7-0 school board vote authorizing Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Superintendent Robin Ryan to notify Colleyville Heritage High School Principal James Whitfield of the recommendation not to renew his contract.
The pastors voiced their concerns that Whitfield, Colleyville Heritage’s first Black principal, is being unfairly penalized for speaking out against racism and for defending himself when he was accused of teaching critical race theory.
This story was originally published September 22, 2021 at 11:25 AM.
