After an incident of alleged assault involving a student and another employee, the Wyoming High School dean of students was fired. The incident happened on Tuesday after Rueben Riley, 31, was sent to a classroom to help remove a misbehaving student.
The district released a statement on Thursday evening regarding the altercation:
On January 26 around 2:00 pm, Mr. Rueben Riley, a dean of students and assistant football coach at Wyoming High School, was forced to remove a student from class for being disruptive. The student refused to leave, necessitating Mr. Riley to physically guide him out. During that encounter, Mr. Riley became too physical with the student, who, at one point during the exchange was forced to the ground.
The district fully understands that there may be times that require a staff member to intervene physically in a situation–to break up a fight or to protect themselves personally. In this case the district determined that there was no immediate need for the amount of force used. Mr. Riley, who had been a model employee for the district and a champion for struggling students, was removed from his position yesterday and is no longer employed at Wyoming Public Schools.
It is vitally important for the district that its students and parents are ensured a safe, welcoming learning environment. When that environment is jeopardized for any reason, we will take swift action to make a correction. Our nearly 500 employees come to work every day committed to helping students succeed and feel at home here. This was an unfortunate incident that does not represent the care and dedication of our employees.
Riley, an assistant football coach at Wyoming High School and former football player at the University of Michigan and in the NFL, was arraigned Wednesday for misdemeanor assault and released on a $100 bond.
Some students have taken to twitter with the hashtag #BringBackRiley in support of their former teacher and coach.
