GRANBURY, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – A teacher is out of a job and a student has serious burns after an in-class science experiment goes awry in North Texas.
The incident happened at Granbury Middle School, about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth.
When asked by a CBS 11 News crew, many parents said they were unaware their kids would literally be playing with fire.
As it stands, parents are taking sides online. Some are defending the teacher, who the district says has resigned, others call the experiment — that involved starting a fire on students hands — inexcusable.
Photos posted online show the blisters from serious burns the student suffered on April 1. Parents claim it happened after a class finished a test early and a teacher asked students if they wanted to see something ‘cool’.
A video shows one student quickly putting out a fire on their hands, which was covered in sanitizer. If the fire is extinguished fast it’s not supposed to cause burns or be painful. But the student who was burned panicked according to accounts.
I a social media post, administrators with the Granbury Independent School District said the teacher responsible no longer works at the school.
But angry parents were quick to respond with criticism. One said that, “Putting a flammable substance on bare hands and igniting it is not a science experiment. It’s just stupid.” Another posted that, “There’s absolutely NO excuse for putting a child in danger like that!!”
Some parents were more forgiving, with one posting, “The teacher may not have made the best choice by doing this experiment but it obviously went perfectly safely 99 out of 100 times. I don’t think them losing their job [resigned to avoid termination] is the solution.”
Granbury ISD officials say they have turned the matter over to law enforcement for further investigation, which suggests it is possible the former teacher could face criminal charges.