Florida teacher arrested for organizing classroom fights for 6th grade girls

Florida teacher arrested for organizing classroom fights for 6th grade girls

A Florida middle school teacher is accused of overseeing fights between girls in her classroom, and she now is facing criminal charges.

Angel Footman, 23, a teacher at Griffin Middle School in Tallahassee, is charged with four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, NBC News reports.

She was booked last week into the Gadsden County jail and was released two hours later, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.

WCTV reports that court documents show that sixth-graders in Footman’s class tell investigators they participated in the planned fights during school hours. Footman is accused of inviting some students to the classroom after school to continue fights.

Sixth-graders told investigators that Footman set the rules for the fights, telling students “30 seconds, no screaming, no yelling, no phones,” reports say. The Democrat reports Footman was fired on March 24 after parents of students saw videos of the fights.

WCTV reports that Footman denies organizing the fights, but says she didn’t take action to stop altercations or report them to administrators.

There were three fights over two days in March, NBC News reports, involving six girls. There were no reported injuries.