BATON ROUGE - A judge approved the firing of a high school principal after the administrator was recorded on video hitting a student with a stick while trying to break up a fight.

The decision by the administrative judge Wednesday means Dr. Calvin Nicholas is no longer employed by the East Baton Rouge Parish School System. The judge ruled nine days after hearing the case where Nicholas argued he was doing his best to try and keep order at Scotlandville High.

In September, the video surfaced showing Nicholas spanking the student. Nicholas said he used the walking stick to get the students to stop fighting. He added, it was his only course of action at a school plagued by groups of bullies attacking other students.

"The district states that it does not condone corporal punishment. But, however, it does condone reasonable use of physical force when it comes to disturbances that may cause harm or injuries to others. That fits right along the bylaws of what happened," Nicholas said in an interview with WBRZ in September. "The stick was totally used to gain his attention."

Superintendent Warren Drake maintained at the hearing, a stick was not an acceptable way to manage combative teenagers.

Tiffany Quiett is now the interim principal.

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