ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A teacher's aide at a Pinellas County elementary school has been fired after being accused of openly embarrassing a student in front of the rest of the class.
Dominique Armstrong is accused of grabbing a student by his pants, pulling up his underwear and telling the rest of the class: "Look, [he] has a wedgie!"
The district said it happened on Sept. 12 while Armstrong was working as a teacher's aide at Mount Vernon Elementary School in St. Petersburg.
According to meeting notes released ahead of the school board meeting, the student reportedly got upset and left the room, then turned over a table in the courtyard.
The meeting notes indicate Armstrong denied the accusations. But the board fired her at its meeting Tuesday.
School board documents also said Armstrong was confronted for not doing her job on Sept. 21 when she was seen sitting alone in the back of a room drawing pictures and using her cell phone. She allegedly told the person who confronted her: "I am not doing anything today." At that point, the assistant principal told her to leave for the day, and she refused, according to school board documents.
"Armstrong stated she told the assistant principal she would only sit and watch the students, but it was not her job to teach the students," the documents said.
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