Dearborn teacher caught on video pushing, swearing at student is placed on leave

DEARBORN, Mich (FOX 2) - A tenured teacher at McCollough-Unis Middle School in Dearborn is now on paid administrative leave pending further investigation into an altercation with a student.

On Wednesday he was accused of cursing at, with 19 seconds of the interaction caught on video, which has now gone viral.

"As a teacher, putting your hands on a child is never the way to go about it," said parent Amber Honey.

The eyewitness video was taken in a stairwell, reportedly by another Unis Middle School student, captured in a snippet of the incident.

The teacher, whose name hasn’t been released, is wearing gray. The student is wearing maroon. As they’re walking towards the door you can hear the teacher say to the student, "You’re digging your own grave," which he repeats twice.

The student replies, but the audio is not clear enough to hear.

Their public exchange escalates and gets physical. The teacher appears to be pushing him toward the door. The student appears to ask the teacher why he’s,"Getting up on him." The teacher can be heard replying, "Why are you getting up on me? It's time for you to go."

At this point they are closer to the door and the teacher is telling the student to leave.

"It’s time for you to go," he said.

The student remained inside repeating, "Don’t touch me."

The recording ends with the student opening the door and the teacher swearing at the student.

"You’re a punk a** b**** that’s what you are," the teacher says.

The district released this statement to media, saying in part:

"As soon as this unfortunate encounter was brought to the attention of the administration, an investigation was immediately started to determine all of the facts and details. the staff member has been placed on administrative leave while the investigation takes place. this is standard practice to protect all involved and in accordance with the district’s due process protocols..."

FOX 2 is told no formal memo went out to parents, which isn’t sitting well with some parents like Honey, whose daughter is in 7th grade.

"Should that child be in trouble? Yes. Should the adult be in trouble? Yes," she said.

According to the district, the student has not been suspended, but no further details were given.

"If it is something like that, a teacher acting like that, (there) should be a meeting called with the teachers, the students, parents, everybody," Honey said. "Because everybody is not on the same page clearly.

"How do you know all of what happened? How do you know before that recording, did that little boy get in that grown man’s face? Did the man? Like there’s a lot of questions that are unanswered as to protocol for things that happen with kids and teachers."

The district's statement continues in part, "The images being shared on social media do not represent the behavior of students or staff in the dearborn public schools. this isolated incident is a reminder about the important role we all play in maintaining the overall safety in our buildings.’"