
NJ high school teacher fired after ‘aggressive’ student confrontation
🔷 NJ teacher fired
🔷 Tenure charges for student assault
🔷 Classroom confrontation witnessed
A longtime Mandarin teacher at Morristown High School has been fired after state officials upheld tenure charges for an aggressive confrontation of a freshman.
Hui-Tzu “Isabella” Chen was a tenured foreign language educator with the Morris School District since 2017.
On March 13, 2024, an incident involved Chen and a male freshman, whom she suspected of copying work from another student.
Chen directed the teen to stay after class and then physically stopped him from going to his lunch period.
During the incident, Chen allegedly hit the teen’s arm several times and then removed the magnet from the classroom door, which locks it shut from the hall.
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“In particular, Ms. Chen endangered the health, safety, and well-being of a young high school student with her aggressive, violent, and frightening and fear-inducing conduct,” an arbitrator said in his written opinion, dated Jan. 6, upholding the school district’s decision to revoke tenure and fire Chen.
“Specifically, I am not convinced that this conduct would not happen again if Respondent were to be returned to the classroom because Respondent has not reflected on the seriousness of her misconduct,” the arbitrator continued.
The teen wound up calling a friend for help who got the in-school resource police officer to respond.
The officer told Chen her actions were wrong and that the boy needed to be allowed to leave the room.
Chen has refused to admit the severity of her misconduct or to express any remorse for the incident, during which she also called the student a “liar” in front of the resource officer, the arbitrator said.
In a separate incident, she previously made fun of a different student for their weight in front of a classroom, according to school officials cited in the opinion.
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