East Haven Teacher Removal 'Unrelated' To Classroom Fracas Video

East Haven CT

30 November, 2021

1:31 PM

Description

EAST HAVEN, CT — An East Haven teacher who is seen on a video in October pushing and removing a student from atop a desk was trying to protect another student from being attacked, school officials said. However, David Diaz was removed Monday from his position at East Haven Academy, Schools Superintendent Erica Forti told Patch. She called it a personnel matter that was unrelated to the high school incident caught on camera. Diaz was a substitute teacher hired at the beginning of the school year at East Haven High School. He applied for and was hired as a permanent math teacher at East Haven Academy in early October. Patch obtained a copy of the video. In the 27-second clip, a girl can be seen being shoved by Diaz toward the classroom door as she resists and, using profanity, threatens to strike Diaz. She gets away from him and circles back toward Diaz's desk, situated in a back corner of the class, where a student can be seen behind the desk. The girl jumps up on the teacher's desk, where the other student is "trapped." Diaz aggressively grabs her off, turning over nearby desks, and shoves her toward the door as she screams at him to "get the **** off me." Forti told Patch that Diaz "prevented another student who was trapped in the corner behind the teacher's desk from being physically attacked by the student who was grabbed off the desk." She added that the "video is completely unrelated to what is circulating regarding Mr. Diaz at EHA." Forti said the incident at the high school portrayed in the video was "addressed ... in accordance with BOE policy." Forti confirmed Tuesday that families of EHA students in Diaz's class were "notified that Mr. Diaz would be out." Forti said that "information was shared that prompted us to respond accordingly," and Diaz was relieved of duties. "Given it is a personnel matter, I have no further comment." Diaz was originally hired as permanent math substitute at EHHS at the start of the year, Forti said. He applied and interviewed for a recent vacancy at EHA and was approved as the permanent certified math teacher at EHA, where he had been for the past several weeks, she said. She reiterated that the video of the incident at the high school is "completely unrelated to his employment at EHA." Forti said that Diaz, as a certified teacher, is a member of the East Haven Education Association. In the communication to Forti, Patch also reached out to the teachers union and did not receive a response from the group. Earlier this month, as first reported by Patch, videos of brawls and fights at both the high school and middle school posted to Snapchat and Instagram led to the arrests of several juveniles, including a 14-year-old. The videos and reporting led to an outcry on social media from concerned families. Read that story here: Videos Show Middle, High School Fights, Some Students Arrested Editor's note: Patch does not share controversial videos depicting juveniles but, rather, confirms and describes their content.