A screen grab of the video, obtained by Fox affiliate KTTV, shows the teacher fighting with a student.
A Santa Monica High School teacher has been placed on leave after cellphone videos showed a fight with a student.
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Superintendent Sandra Lyon sent a letter to parents Friday notifying them about the classroom confrontation.
In the letter, Lyon says the videos were "utterly alarming."
"...A deeply disturbing incident involving a teacher and student occurred in a classroom at Santa Monica High School, resulting in the Santa Monica Police Department being called to the campus," Lyon said. "I am grateful that there is no reported serious physical harm to students or teachers, but that neither dismisses the severity of this situation nor my commitment to gather all the facts and make sure the proper actions are taken.
"Until the investigation is complete, we will not have all the details that led up to this incident; nevertheless, based on what I have viewed, the kind of physical restraint used by the teacher is unacceptable," she said.
School officials said Mark Black, who's also a wrestling coach, was put on leave pending an investigation.
City News Service reports no one was injured in the fight. The student's name has not been released.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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