POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A former substitute teacher at Kathleen Middle School in Florida is in legal trouble for what he allegedly did not do inside a classroom late last week.
“We send our children to school to learn, not to learn how to fight,” said Sheriff Grady Judd.
According to the sheriff, a group of four girls, aged 12-13, knew where to go to fight.
“On Friday, three of these four girls that went into his class weren’t even supposed to be in the class, but they heard that he would let you fight,” said Sheriff Judd.
The man who was supposed to be in charge of the classroom was Kelan Durn, 24, a substitute teacher.
Sheriff Judd said it was fellow students who stopped the fights, not Durn, who is accused of telling the children to stop with a laugh.
“This is a substitute teacher, a contract employee, not a regular school teacher, that’s watching out over the class allowing the kids to fight and thinks it’s funny. We don’t think it’s funny,” said Sheriff Judd.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested Durn on a charge of negligent child abuse, a 3rd degree felony.
“Of course he had the lame excuse that ‘well, I was afraid to touch them’. That’s not true. That wasn’t it at all. He was enjoying watching these girls scuffle,” said Sheriff Judd.
NewsNation affiliate WFLA reached out to Durn on social media and has not yet heard back.
“That’s unacceptable behavior for any educator working in our schools. He no longer has any involvement with PCPS,” said Polk County Public Schools spokesperson Kyle Kennedy in a statement.
Durn was employed by Kelly Education, according to the school district, a company that provides substitute teachers to school districts.
“We have notified Kelly Education that this person is no longer allowed to serve within our schools,” wrote spokesperson Jason Geary in a follow-up email.
“As I understand it, when teachers take off, they leave a curriculum for the substitutes to follow. I don’t think fighting was part of that,” said Sheriff Judd.
According to the sheriff’s office, there are video recordings from inside the classroom but videos were not made public.
Durn was released from jail on $5,000 bond.