Teacher Resigns Following NJ Student's Video Of Classroom Tirade

WINSLOW TWP., NJ — A teacher who parents said demeaned their son in a South Jersey classroom resigned a day after video of her expletive-laced rant was released to the media.

The Winslow Township Board of Education approved the resignation of high school Spanish teacher Melanie Lewellen on Feb. 8, after the student's family and a reverend working with them called for her to be fired. The resignation was effective immediately.

Patch did not identify Lewellen or the 16-year-old student, a Sicklerville resident, in the original article. Original article — Teacher's Profane Rant Sparks Outrage At South Jersey School District

"My ears are bleeding from the moment I step into this (expletive deleted) school to the moment I leave it," Lewellen is heard saying to students over about three minutes of video reviewed by Patch. "Knock it the (expletive deleted) out because you do not go around behaving like this in front of your parents."

"It is a (expletive deleted) zoo in this class. Every day."

The student was suspended after recording with his phone in class, his parents and Rev. Kevin McCall said. His father said his son was unable to sleep and that "no teacher should ever talk to a student like this."

McCall told Patch that the student's four-day suspension was not lifted, and that he returned to school a week later.

When Patch sent Winslow Township Schools superintendent Dr. H. Major Poteat a request for comment on Feb. 7, he said that he could not comment on personnel and student matters. Poteat told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Lewellen's behavior was "simply unacceptable" and that such behavior "can not and will not be tolerated" by the district.