Mesquite ISD substitute teacher fired after she’s accused of encouraging students to fight
Mesquite Independent School District fired a substitute teacher Thursday after she was caught on video setting up one-on-one fights between students in her classroom, officials said.
In a letter to parents, district officials didn’t publicly identify the teacher, but called her actions “appalling and intolerable,” KXAS-TV reported. WFAA-TV identified the teacher as Natally Garcia.
“As educators, our hearts are heavy knowing that an individual entrusted with the supervision and care of our students could behave in this manner, and we share the disgust that the families of students in this class must feel,” district officials said in the letter.
The district told parents that the substitute teacher not only encouraged the students to fight, but outlined rules for them to follow and instructed a student to monitor the door. In video footage, she is heard telling students not to record the fights.
The student who recorded the incident, which took place at Kimbrough Middle School on Wednesday, said the teacher pushed aside desks so the 12- and 13-year-olds would have room to fight, according to KXAS.
It’s not known how many students were involved, but some of them were bleeding afterwards, KXAS reported.
Beatriz Martinez, the mother of the student who recorded the fights, told KXAS that she was devastated.
“I couldn’t watch the full video,” she said. “I had to stop it multiple times because I didn’t think it was real. I was like, this must be a prank. This is not real.“
Martinez said other students have threatened her daughter for reporting the incident.
The substitute teacher had been employed by Mesquite ISD since March 6, district officials told WFAA-TV.
District officials said in the letter that they referred the matter to the Mesquite Police Department to pursue possible criminal charges.
Mesquite police said that the case was being “actively investigated,” but no arrests or charges had been made as of Saturday.
This story was originally published April 15, 2023 at 2:32 PM.
