A Clayton County teacher wants to know why administrators are trying to suspend him after he prevented a fight between two students.
Norris Henry said he stopped a fight before it got started by putting himself between a stocky 7th-grader moving aggressively toward a smaller student at Eddie J. White Academy, where Henry teaches social studies.
“If my child were to get to fighting in a school, I would only hope the adult staff at that school would not allow my child to get beaten or seriously hurt,” he told Channel 2’s Mark Winne at Clayton County Schools headquarters.
A letter to Henry on school district letterhead says in December 2011, a teacher filed a complaint alleging, “you inappropriately pushed a student.” In November, a complaint filed by a student says Henry “pushed, grabbed and choked” him and used “profane language.”
But Henry insists those allegations are false.
Meanwhile, the educator must deal with a proposed five-day suspension, a penalty he refuses to accept.
“I’m going to fight it with everything in me,” Henry said. “I’m not accepting five days suspension.”
Henry said he watched a Channel 2 Action News report of a separate incident, in which a teacher was criticized for not doing enough during a fight. But Norceese Haynes of a local teachers' union, MACE, calls Henry a 'hero' for breaking up the fight at his school.
“It’s like you’re damned if you do, you’re damned if you don’t” Haynes said.
Despite the ordeal, Henry said the support of his wife and his strong faith in God will get him through.
Officials said he will get a chance to respond to the charges at a May 3 hearing.
When asked about the proposed suspension, Clayton County Schools human resource officials said they don’t speak on personnel matters.
Channel 2 has filed an open records request that is pending in this case.