EAST DUBLIN, Ga. — An educator in Laurens County was arrested and charged with simple battery after allegedly slapping a student, but the school district will not confirm whether he is still working with students.
A Laurens County incident report says it happened at around 5 p.m. on Thursday at East Laurens High School's football field.
Larry Fleming — who also goes by Chip — was accused of standing on a 17-year-old student's feet to prevent the student from moving and then slapping them in the face during or after a junior varsity football game, the incident report claims.
The school's website says Fleming is the school athletic coordinator at East Laurens High School.
Fleming was booked into the Laurens County jail on Tuesday and was released the same day, jail records show.
According to the incident report, students interviewed say the director was upset about something the 17-year-old student said and went to speak with them.
That's when the incident report says Fleming then approached the student on the football field. That's where the student and Fleming got into a disagreement.
Both the witnesses and the student allegedly slapped say that Fleming stood on the student's feet so he couldn't move and then slapped the student in the face. The report says there were no physical marks on the student's face.
In a phone call with 13WMAZ, Laurens County School District Superintendent Clifford Garnto says that the district will not comment on Fleming's status as an employee because it is a "personnel matter."
He would not say whether Fleming still works with students or if he is suspended.
However, Garnto says that student safety is a priority for the district.
"Student safety is very important to us," Garnto said. "We take these types of incidents really seriously... that's just the number one priority to us."
While the incident report says that the principal at the school, Keldrick Burke, originally refused to provide surveillance footage to responding deputies, Garnto says that is a district action — not the job of the principal.
Garnto says he handed over the surveillance footage to the sheriff's office on Friday, a day school was not in session.
"As soon as law enforcement made contact, we set up a time to meet with them," Garnto said. "Once we submit that footage to them, we let their processes take place."
Any update on Fleming's status as an employee would likely come at an upcoming school board meeting, which Garnto says is scheduled for Sept. 12.
We reached out to Fleming for comment but we are waiting to hear back.