An investigation is underway after a school resource officer with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office was called into a class at Righetti High School on Friday to remove a substitute teacher from campus.
Righetti senior Isaiah Coria and junior Isaac Santana say they were disturbed when they heard the news.
“My teacher was talking about it in class today. He said it was one of the weirdest things he has seen at this school,” Santana told KSBY.
“I saw the photo going around of the substitute. He had his pants down and everything. He is just holding a Pringles can in the open. It was weird,” Coria added.
The image started making its rounds on social media on Friday. The unnamed substitute appears to be sitting behind a desk, holding a Pringles can in front of his crotch, with his pants pulled down around his knees.
“You can’t really see what he is doing, but there is no need to have his pants down and hold a Pringles can right there,” said Coria, who saw the image on social media.
District staff say the substitute was removed from campus Friday. Since then, Coria says the incident has been the talk of the school.
“Especially today, a lot of people have been trying to find out what exactly was happening with the can,” he explained. “People are kind of worried.”
Santa Maria Joint Union High School District Public Information Officer Kenny Klein says as part of their hiring process, substitute teacher candidates must complete live-scan fingerprinting that is sent to the Department of Justice for criminal background checks.
He says the substitute who was removed from campus is no longer part of the district’s substitute teacher pool.
“It sounds like a good response to it because it seems weird to be doing that around children. I feel like that was deserved,” Coria said.
Santana adds that he is pleased to see the district taking action but that he is still in disbelief that this happened at his school.
“I thought it was fake at first, but then I realized it actually happened on campus. It was kind of funny, but it has been weird at the same time,” he said.
Officials with the sheriff’s office say their school resource officer is still investigating the incident and will release more information once it is available.
