JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Students taking swings at each other and jumping on top of desks – that's what Duval County Public Schools officials saw in the cellphone video that got a substitute teacher banned from the district.
The mother of the First Coast High School student who took the video talked exclusively to Action News Jax.
Donna Gallagher said her daughter's geography class has gone through four teachers this semester.
Gallagher said she was outraged to see students sailing through the air, cursing and roughhousing in her daughter's video.
"Complete horror," said Gallagher.
Gallagher said this wasn't a one-time thing.
"This is the kind of stuff that happens in this particular class on a daily basis," said Gallagher.
She said she sees her daughter's future slipping away.
"As a parent, you want your child to succeed. I'm willing to admit, I myself was a high school dropout. Her father, a high school dropout. I didn't want this for my child," said Gallagher.
But now her daughter begs her not to make her go back to this class.
"She's scared right now of what's going to happen when she returns from school break," said Gallagher.
Duval County Public Schools contracts its substitute teachers through Kelly Services, which also supplies all the subs for Putnam County.
Duval County said subs there are required to have 60 semester credit hours, pass a background check and get fingerprinted.
Kelly Services spokesperson Denise Ridenour said the company is investigating what happened.
Ridenour sent Action News Jax a statement that said, in part, "All KES substitute teachers undergo orientation and training prior to entering the classroom, however not all classroom situations can be predicted."
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