Teacher, staff member brawl caught on video

STONE MOUNTAIN, Georgia (KTRK) -- There was a violent fight in a Georgia school classroom Friday -- but it wasn't students fighting, it was a teacher and staff member. Students say the school then tried to cover it up.

Middle school students screamed in class as a teacher and a staff member got into a fist fight right in front of their desks. The brawl happened Friday afternoon at Stone Mountain Middle School.

A student recorded most of the fight on her cell phone. The women are seen throwing punches and pulling hair. Another adult has to get in the middle to break it up.

"They looked like boxers in there. That's how many blows they was throwing," said Julia Berry.

Berry's daughter was inside the classroom and watched the fight unfold. She wants these women fired because she says they set a horrible example for students.

"Letting them know its OK to fight if you can't deal with a problem. This is how you deal with it, you punch the teacher in the face?" Berry said.

After the fight was finally broken up, students say school officials came into the classroom, went through their cell phones and made them delete any evidence of it.

"Don't tell nobody, keep it to yourself. Like what is that to keep to yourself teachers fighting?" Berry said.

The DeKalb County School District said it's not aware of staff going through students' phones. The communications director did say he would send CBS46 a statement, but only after he was sent a copy of the video so he could review it.

That statement says, in part: "For those involved in the fight, those staff members that participated in the conduct have been removed from the learning environment. Following due process, DCSD will act swiftly and decisively to hold those employees accountable for their actions."

"They didn't even send a letter or nothing saying that the teachers were fighting and the kids were in jeopardy. Nothing, and this was at 2:30 so the kids were still in school," Berry said.

After CBS 46 kept pressing the school for answers, Berry said Stone Mountain Middle School sent out a letter saying: "safety and security procedures are in place to help maintain a safe campus. Anyone who creates an unsafe learning environment for our students will receive swift disciplinary actions."

DeKalb County Schools nearly lost its accreditation in 2012 for mismanagement that left students without textbooks. The district got full accreditation back last year after spending years on probation.

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