Video released by the Flagler Sheriff’s Office shows 47-year-old Jeffrey Paffumi grabbing and pushing a 14-year-old student out of a classroom.
WESH 2 News spoke with that student’s father, Keiondrae Woodside, who said they immediately wanted to press charges after watching that footage. “I was infuriated as a parent,” he said. “You send your child to school and you expect them to go get a safe sound education. That video sent me over the edge.”
An arrest report shows this started with the teenager playing music on his computer during class. Paffumi reportedly told the student to turn it down, and the student refused.
The teacher then allegedly took the computer away, and the 14-year-old called him a racial slur.
The students told investigators, “Mr. Paffumi grabbed him and turned him around and put [him] in a chokehold” and “his feet were barely touching the ground when Mr. Paffumi shoved him out of the door.”
The student’s father said his son should not have behaved disobediently, but he’s also concerned his child could have seriously been hurt. “So you traumatized him mentally and emotionally and not just him but the other kids that witnessed it,” Woodside said.
Paffumi was hired by the school district in 2005 and had had two previous arrests in Flagler County and a conviction for battery involving another adult. In this latest incident, he was charged with battery as well. He’s been placed on leave while the investigation continues.
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