VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A Virginia Beach City Public Schools teacher was arrested for allegedly assaulting a student.
Daniel Board, a math teacher at Landstown Middle School, was arrested for simple assualt on Monday. Photo: Facebook
According to police, 46-year-old Daniel Board was charged with simple assault following an incident which involved an employee and a juvenile at Landstown Middle School.
Public record shows the incident happened on September 16, but Board was not arrested until October 3.
A source close to the case told News 3, Board, who was employed as a math teacher at Landstown Middle School at the time of the incident, allegedly had students in his class “hold down” a male student.
Our source says Board wrote the word “focus” on the student’s forehead while he was being held down by his classmates.
Board then told a female student sitting behind the male student to hit him whenever he said something “stupid”, our source said.
The student was allegedly hit at least three times according to our source.
Police would not comment on the details surrounding the incident, but a Landstown Middle School parent told News 3 she heard a similar story from her daughter.
“My daughter did tell me yesterday, and she had three friends that were actually in the class.," said Victoria Mitchell. “I believe it, because with three students witnessing it, I felt there was some truth to it.”
Mitchell's daughter Sage has never had Board as a teacher, but she shared with News 3 what students have been saying.
"I heard that the teacher actually wrote 'focus’ on the student’s forehead, and picked him up and flipped him upside down," said Sage, who is an eighth grader at Landstown Middle.
Numerous parents who spoke to News 3's Merris Badcock said they did not receive a letter from the school about the incident.
"Anytime a teacher is charged, or alleged to have done something like that, it is my wish to have some type of notification," said Mitchell.
The NAACP Virginia Beach branch was contacted about the incident. According to the Virginia Beach Chapter President, Carl Wright, they were told that a teacher at Landstown Middle School wrote the word “focus” on a student’s forehead.
Wright told News 3 they were going to investigate the issue, but since there are now criminal charges, they will leave the investigation up to police.
In a statement from Virginia Beach City Public Schools, "Board started with VBCPS on Aug. 22, 2016. He was removed from the classroom and placed on unpaid administrative leave for the course of the investigation."
After News 3 aired the story, VBCPS confirmed that Board submitted his resignation to the school district. Public school officials also confirm they did not send a letter home to parents notifying them of the incident.
Board's next court date is set for November 3rd.
