THE BRONX — A Claremont Village middle school teacher with a history of misconduct toward kids was arrested Thursday for slapping a 12-year-old girl in the face, police said.
Fatai Okunola, 50, was at his post in I.S. 219 New Venture School, at 3630 Third Ave., when he smacked the student across the left side of her face, NYPD officials said.
The girl returned home and revealed the attack to her mother, who then called police, officials said.
Okunola, who's been with Department of Education for 29 years and make $98,458, was arrested at 4:37 p.m. on charges of assault, police said.
He was given a desk appearance ticket and released Friday, Bronx prosecutors said.
The teacher has previously gotten in trouble for impropriety with students, officials said.
In 2006, he was suspended without pay for making inappropriate comments to students and for failing to perform his proctoring duties, sources said.
Then in 2014, he was reprimanded by a supervisor for using corporal punishment on a student, sources said.
Okunola began his career in education in 1988, serving as a substitute teacher at the I.S. 73 in Queens, DOE officials said. In 2002 he began teaching at the Intermediate School 219 in the Bronx, officials said.
"These troubling alleged actions are completely unacceptable. This individual has been removed from the school and reassigned away from students pending the resolution of this criminal matter," said DOE spokesman Doug Cohen.
Schools officials expect to fire Okunola if the charges against him stand.
