Florida Teacher Rita Baci Suspended for Recording Kindergarten Students' Fights on Video
A northeast Florida kindergarten teacher was put on a 15-day unpaid suspension after school officials say she videotaped her students in a physical confrontation instead of intervening to break up the fight.
Officials accuse Rita Baci, a 65-year-old teacher at the John E. Ford Montessori public school, of using her cellphone to record a boy beating on other students on three different occasions, reports The Florida Times-Union.
One video shows the little boy hitting another boy on in the face and body multiple times.
In another video, the boy is seen kicking another student several times as they are hiding under a table.
A third video shows the boy punching and slapping a third student.
An investigation conducted by the Duval County school district also found that Baci physically pushed a kindergarten student out of her class, leaving him unattended, reports The Associated Press.
After recording the videos, the investigator said that Baci showed it to a vice principal before meeting with the child's parents to demonstrate how aggressively the boy behaved in class.
However, students say that they were also shown the tapes.
Investigator Reginald Johnson said the veteran teacher violated the district's code of ethics and professional conduct by violating the student's confidentiality and failing to make a reasonable effort to keep the students away from danger. Johnson added that Baci exemplified poor judgment and inappropriate physical contact.
According to the Duval schools investigative report, the incidents occurred during the week of Nov. 24. However, the report did not become public until last week because Florida law requires districts not to disclose the results of teacher misconduct investigations until 10 days after the investigation has been completed and the teacher has been notified.
Baci, who is certified to teach in a variety of fields, taught in New York schools for seven years before she began working in Duval schools back in 1990.
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