DESOTO, Texas – A middle school in Texas canceled all classes for Friday after a violent fight in a classroom Thursday that involved students and a substitute teacher was caught on camera.
The video shows a chair being thrown at the substitute, who then throws the chair back at students, and then throws another chair. When the teacher sits down, there is blood visible on his head.
The video was taken Wednesday at DeSoto West Middle School, and the violence prompted the district to begin its spring break early and cancel classes, a district spokesperson told WFAA.
While the district confirmed to KDFW that there was an “assault” in a classroom, it would only say that “all parties” would be held accountable and wouldn’t say whether the teacher or any students had been punished.
“I feel for my son’s safety sometimes, you never know when he goes to school what might happen that day,” Shemetris LaShun, a parent, told KXAS. “There’s been several incidents at the high school where I had to call him and make sure he was OK.”
While classes were canceled, teachers were still required to come to campus to talk about changes to improve safety, KTVT reported. The district told KDFW the changes that will be in place when students return on March 21 include every school having staff to monitor hallways and common areas, students not being allowed to use cell phones or headphones during the school day, and employees with student support services will now be on campus instead of at district headquarters to provide a faster response time.
“How safe are the children?” Sherisse Montgomery, a parent, asked KXAS. “When is it going to be to the point that fighting is no longer it and guns are going to start coming to the school. I think we are just an accident waiting to happen in DeSoto.”
Rapper Cardi B, who saw the video online, posted a response on Twitter. She said in part, “Disgusting this generation is really lost … I went to school wit (sic) a lot of gangtas and no matter what they never put their hands on a teacher.”
On Thursday, KXAS said it obtained video of a fight at DeSoto High School in the cafeteria, where students argued before slapping, punching, and pulling hair.
In a statement, the school district did not speak directly about either incident but said, “These are isolated incidents not reflective of the quality, character, and culture of our students, staff, and school district,” KXAS reported.
