SAN ANTONIO — The cell phone video, shot by a sixth grader, is shaky and somewhat blurry, but the words captured on the recording are crystal clear.
A teacher at E.T. Wrenn Middle School in the Edgewood ISD can be heard saying to a young male student "The very fact that you exist annoys me! You are an annoying human being!"
The clip is short and school officials have not said what may have been going on in the classroom before the Monday outburst, but the results were immediate.
Tuesday afternoon, Keyhla Calderón Lugo, Director of Marketing & Communications for the district provided the following statement:
"Edgewood ISD was made aware of a video that displayed a teacher speaking to a student in an unprofessional manner. Immediate action was taken. The staff member is no longer an employee with the district. This type of behavior does not align with the district's core values and will not be tolerated."
People who know the young boy said he recently lost his home to a fire and his family is facing other hardships, and at a time when he should have been treated with compassion, he received criticism instead.
Pamela Allen, of Eagles Flight Advocacy, operates a pantry operation for the needy in the Edgewood district.
Allen said when a local pastor shared the video with her and asked what to do to help the distraught father and son, she called a district official who looked into the matter right away.
"I couldn't believe some of the things he was saying! You wouldn't say this to anyone!" Allen said, adding "It was just horrible to hear!"
Knowing the hard times the family has been facing, Allen said her first instinct was to comfort the pair.
"Seeing the child's face and seeing the dad's face, the first thing I did was hug that child and let him know that anything that teacher said, that's not who he is," Allen said.
Allen said she forwarded the video to a district official who replied instantly "They said 'What is this! and that official was livid."
About an hour later, Allen said, she received word that the teacher was no longer employed by the district.
"That little boy and his father are going to be getting a little bit of counseling. The school district wants to help them as well. And Eagles Flight is going to be providing services to them," Allen said.
Allen said at a time when people are on edge and the threat of violence at schools hangs on everyone like a heavy blanket, she hopes the incident will help people realize that kindness is everyone's duty.
"It's disheartening because we see that our kids get bullied at school. It happens. But to see a teacher openly bully a child, in their face, in front of other kids, this is called teacher led bullying. This was horrific," Allen said.
Allen said she believes the child would have had a hard time reporting the issue, if not for the video evidence.
"This young person could not do anything to defend himself, but what he did have though was a friend who picked up a phone and started recording this," Allen said.
"Because of that video? Nothing else needed to be said," Allen said.
"I applaud the efforts of Edgewood and that official who reacted so very quickly. That young boy did not want to go to school today because he was afraid, but now he can go to school tomorrow knowing that he'll be safe," Allen said, adding "I am very, very impressed with how Edgewood responded."
Like most districts, Edgewood has a tips line for students to report all types of concerning situations.
The district representative said she hopes the lesson learned from this incident is that students will know if they see something that is not right, and they say something, they will be heard.
The Safeline phone number is available 24/ 7 at 210-898-2027 or reports can be made online.