Principal: Gym teacher has been fired

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) -- A Lehigh Valley Academy gym teacher charged with slamming a 9-year-old boy into a wall has been fired, the principal said.
Andrew Dear, 30, of Coplay, was charged with simple assault and harassment stemming from the reported Jan. 13 incident. The boy had a bump on the back of his head and suffered a concussion, police said.
There was sufficient evidence that Dear violated the school's code of conduct, which prohibits employees from using corporal punishment to discipline pupils, principal Susan Lind said.
The boy told authorities that he was in the cafeteria "cheering for a friend during lunch" when Dear pulled him out of the room by the arm, picked him up by his shirt and twice threw him against the wall, according to court records.
Another teacher saw the incident and intervened to get the child away from Dear, according to authorities.
Dear, who had been a teacher since the charter school opened in 2002, was arraigned before District Justice Barbara Schlegel last week and released on $15,000 unsecured bail.
He did not return a telephone call seeking comment.