Las Vegas teacher released from jail after video showing fist fight with student; racial slur reportedly led to scuffle

Ryan Matthey
·2 min read
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LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The substitute teacher caught on video fighting a high schooler after an alleged racially charged comment is no longer in custody a day after his arrest.

Re’Kwon Smith, 27, faces charges including battery and assault on a school pupil stemming from an incident caught on cell phone video Thursday. The video does not show the interaction before the fight and instead begins as Smith and a high school student throw punches and slap each other.

Sources tell 8 News Now that the involved student used a racial slur during the initial interaction. Clark County School District police have not confirmed or denied this accusation.

Photo of Re'Kwon Smith provided by Clark County School District Police Department
Photo of Re’Kwon Smith provided by Clark County School District Police Department

Clark County Judge Daniel Westmeyer dropped a $9,000 bail requirement and released Smith because he lacked a criminal history and was not determined to be a flight risk. The release is conditional on the 27-year-old:

  • avoiding further arrests or citations

  • not returning to Valley High School

  • having no contact with the involved student

Smith’s family and Alzora Jackson, his attorney, declined to speak to media after his afternoon court appearance. He’s due back in court on May 28.

As this investigation develops, contention remains in the school community about who is at fault in this fight. Kali Fox Miller, president of Nevada PTA, is not yet pointing the finger at either side.

“You can have situations where everyone is wrong,” Miller said during a virtual interview Friday afternoon. “If it had not been the teacher who was in this altercation, it would have been another student. Something was clearly going wrong.”

Her concern extends to not enough de-escalation training among educators, especially those with only a handful of teaching experience. CCSD police confirmed Smith began working in the district in November 2023, roughly five months ago.

“This is not just a school problem. This is all of our problem. I think we all feel a little bit of failure from this,” Miller said. “I encourage (CCSD) to communicate with parents and teachers on how they’re going to prevent this from happening again.”

Sources tell 8 News Now the student involved is recovering at a local hospital and was also arrested in this incident, though the student’s identity is hidden within the juvenile court system.

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