BeTreylin Elder, Savannah, Georgia teacher at DeRenne Middle School resigns after video shows him throwing 11 year old student across the classroom, after the pupil confronting the educator about sexual comments he made about the boy’s mother.
A Georgia teacher has resigned following video allegedly showing him throwing an 11 year old student across the classroom, causing grievous bodily harm to the boy.
BeTreylin Elder, a teacher and football coach at DeRenne Middle School in the video is seen grabbing a student identified as TJ by the shirt and throwing him across the room onto desks, knocking him down.
The episode which took place at DeRenne Middle School in Savannah, led to the victim’s mother, Che’Nelle Russell, demanding accountability from the school, WTOC reported.
‘Failed by the school system…’
‘I was told that he had a share of words that were inappropriate to TJ and that he had made some remarks about me, and my son was unhappy with it. So, my son then went to the front of the classroom to approach the teacher, letting him know, ‘Hey, stop talking about my mom.’ The teacher then came closer to my son. My son again said, ‘Stop talking about my mom’, and also wanted to call me. From that point, he was then grabbed and thrown to the floor like nothing,’ Russell said.
The comments, according to another student, were sexual in nature, with the teacher allegedly saying that ‘he left his shoes at TJ’s mom’s house.’
Russell said she has never even met this teacher before and was appalled a teacher would say anything like this to her son.
‘I just feel like they failed me. They let me down. It is heartbreaking. It causes a lack of trust in the school system. Something needs to be done,’ Russell told the outlet.
The ‘altercation’ led to TJ suffering a concussion, multiple bruises, along with the boy’s mom saying her 11 year old son is scared to go back to school.
A Georgia school forced to reconsider hiring and vetting process
Russell said she doesn’t want this to change the way her son thinks of teachers, or school as a whole. Nevertheless the parent is distressed about the emotional toll the episode will have on her son, long term.
She said the school district needs to have more thorough training and a better vetting process.
‘I hate that [my son] had to be made an example out of to get a sick individual out of a schoolhouse, but something needs to change,’ Russell said.
The district said the teacher was initially relocated before the educator involved submitting his resignation over the weekend.
The hastily timed resignation didn’t sit well with Russell who wanted further discipline against Elder.
‘He needs to be placed in jail. He hurt my boy. I’m heartbroken because I wouldn’t do that to my child. His father wouldn’t do that to him. So, for [the teacher] to take the initiative to do that is sickening,’ Russell said.
Of note, no lawsuits or criminal charges have been filed against Elder, according to Savannah Morning News.
The Savannah Chatham County Public School System released a statement this week saying:
On December 6, 2024, an incident involving a teacher and student at DeRenne Middle School was reported to district personnel. Following the report, thorough statements were collected, and the teacher was immediately reassigned to an alternate location to ensure they had no interaction with students. Over the weekend, the teacher submitted their resignation, which was received and accepted by SCCPSS Human Resources.
Please be assured that this was an isolated incident and we take matters like this extremely seriously. The safety and well-being of our student population are of the utmost importance to us, and we are committed to maintaining a safe and supportive environment for all.
The teacher involved has to date declined to comment on the incident and their abrupt resignation.
