Two Osceola County teacher’s assistants, who were arrested after students fought in a classroom, are not being suspended.
They were accused of not doing anything while the fight happened.
On Tuesday night, the Osceola County School Board voted against suspending them without pay.
If it was up to Superintendent Melba Luciano, Kristie Gilmore and Mona Sagar would be suspended without pay after being charged with child neglect last week.
Deputies accuse Gilmore and Sagar of not calling anyone to break up a Jan. 9 fight that was recorded by another student at Discovery Intermediate School in Kissimmee.
However, dozens of teachers and several school board members rallied around the two, saying no one should take food off their table until all the facts are made public.
“They’ve been reassigned,” said Tim Wiesheyer, the school board’s chairman. “They’ll retain their pay until we can identify whether or not the right move is for them to be terminated and we’ll know in a very short period of time, whether or not that’s the case based on the outcome of the results of the investigation.”
Meanwhile, three students were arrested for battery.
“And as Ms. Sagar said in her comment, by the time she got up and got to the radio, the incident had stopped,” said Osceola County Education Association President Apryle Jackson. “So we don’t have any information if that actually occurred in the classroom except for the one child’s taping of the situation.”
On Monday, the victim’s attorney said they may sue the school district for failing to protect the boy, who suffers from a heart condition.
Veteran school board member Jay Wheeler was the only board member to vote against reassigning the staff members with pay.
“There is no gray area with it. You can go to the Sheriff’s Office and find the booking, that works for me. I trust the Sheriff’s (Office), they wouldn’t do it lightly. I’m sure they had plenty of evidence and if it is good enough for the Sheriff’s (Office) it’s good enough for me,” Wheeler said.
Even though both employees avoided suspension without pay, the superintendent could recommend to fire both next month.