Sequatchie County substitute fired, accused of assaulting student

SEQUATCHIE COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) — A new substitute teacher quickly lost his job after accusations of him assaulting a student.

Sequatchie County Schools said Thomas Aldean worked for them for less than one week.

School administrators were told Aldean assaulted a student at Griffith Elementary School.

After a school investigation, they fired Aldean and then contacted the sheriff’s department and department of children services.

Sarai Pierce, Director of Sequatchie County Schools, gave the following statement.

“On May 3rd, school system officials were made aware of allegations that a substitute teacher, Thomas Aldean, had assaulted a student on the campus of Griffith Elementary.  The school system immediately removed the substitute teacher from campus and conducted an investigation.  The investigation revealed that the substitute had acted inappropriately toward a student, and the substitute was immediately terminated. He had worked as a sub for less than one week. The school system followed protocol and reported to both DCS and the Sheriff’s Department.

As there is an open criminal investigation, we have no further comment at this time.”

We have reached out to authorities to learn more about what happened.