A substitute teacher and a student at Valley High School in Las Vegas were involved in a physical altercation following a classroom argument that escalated into a heated exchange of punches. The incident, which occurred on Thursday, stemmed from an alleged racial slur uttered by the student during class. Re’Kwon Smith, a 27-year-old substitute teacher, asked the student to leave the classroom, leading to a physical confrontation when the student placed his hands on Smith.
Video footage obtained by local news outlet 8NewsNow captured the intense brawl between the two parties. In the video, both Smith and the student can be seen throwing punches at each other. Smith managed to connect several times, eventually knocking the student down. He then stood over the student, seemingly yelling, while the student cowered behind his hands. Smith continued to land several more punches until a campus safety monitor and other students intervened and helped the student off the ground.
Witnesses reported that the student, while being escorted away, shouted derogatory remarks towards Smith, laughing and claiming that the teacher would be going to jail. Valley High School junior Andrew Acevez expressed shock at the incident, stating, “I see a teacher fighting a student, I’m like ‘wow.’ And then the teacher is just standing over him, just slapping him, saying stuff to him, and I’m like, ‘wow, that’s crazy.'”
Valley High School Principal Kimberly Perry-Carter addressed the incident in a message to parents, stating that the school district was aware of the altercation and that the CCSDPD (Clark County School District Police Department) was investigating the matter. Smith has been charged with battery resulting in serious bodily harm, assault of a school pupil on school property, interfering with a student from attending school, and threatening to do bodily harm to a public school student. He is currently held at the Clark County Detention Center on a $9,000 bail, with his next court appearance scheduled for Friday. The student involved in the altercation has also been arrested on unspecified charges.
The school district emphasized that violence in any form is unacceptable and goes against the fundamental principles of education and respect. They assured that any altercation between a teacher and a student is thoroughly investigated, and appropriate disciplinary action is taken. Smith, who had been working for the Clark County School District since November 2023, has been removed from the substitute teacher pool and is no longer eligible to work within the district.
