Rocky Mount police are looking into a fight between a substitute teacher and a student from Monday morning at Rocky Mount High School.
Police and Nash County Public Schools (NCPS) learned there was an altercation between a juvenile student and a substitute teacher over the confiscation of a cell phone. The fight occurred between the end of first period and the start of Connections Intervention period, according to NCPS.
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Police are investigating after an argument over a phone between a student and a substitute teacher in Rocky Mount, NC turned physical. pic.twitter.com/GFlaGvAD1V
— TeaWithTia (@RealTeaWithTia) April 17, 2023
“Why does the rules not apply to everybody else?” said the student. “That’s my phone.”
The teacher, identified by police as Xaviera Steele, responds, “it does apply to everybody.”
“No. You did not keep nobody else phone,” said the student, who appears to attempt to grab the phone from the teacher’s hand as she’s making a phone call.
“Don’t touch me,” the teacher goes on to say several times. The confrontation then gets physical with the two swinging at each other and the teacher ending up on top of the student.
The teacher has been with the school system for approximately a year. As of Monday afternoon, no charges have been filed.
NCPS policy states that “if an employee is attacked by a student, the employee has the right to reasonably restrain the student and defend themselves to the point that they are free of the threat or attack.” As far as cell phone use goes, the policy code notes that “administrators may authorize individual students to use wireless communication devices for personal purposes when there is a reasonable need for such communication.”
No injuries were reported. Police and the school system are investigating.
