School board votes to fire Texas teacher shown hitting student
BEAUMONT, Texas -- A Southeast Texas school board has voted to fire a high school teacher who was arrested on an assault charge after a video surfaced that the district saysshows her repeatedly striking a student in her class.
CBS affiliate KFDM reported the Beaumont school district board voted Tuesday to accept its superintendent's recommendation and terminate Mary Hastings as a geometry teacher at Ozen High School.
The cellphone video went viral earlier this month, showing Hastings sweeping papers from the top of the student's desk, slapping him five times and scolding him for being a disruption.
On the video, Hastings is heard saying, "...because you're stopping him from graduating you idiot [expletive]."
The Beaumont school district placed the 63-year-old teacher on leave after she was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge April 8. She remains free on $2,500 bond.
A phone listing for her couldn't be found.