Cloverdale High School teacher fired after alleged involvement in student fight club

A Cloverdale High School teacher was fired last week, because he allegedly refereed a classroom “fight club” that led to multiple student injuries and his arrest last month.

The Cloverdale Unified School Board voted on Thursday to suspend without pay and dismiss special education teacher Federico Vargas, 41, of Santa Rosa, Superintendent Jeremy Decker said. Four of the board’s five members attended last week’s board meeting and cast votes for the firing.

Vargas was arrested on March 9 on suspicion of five counts of endangering a child and 13 counts of contributing to the delinquency of minors, Cloverdale police said. Employed by the district for eight years, Vargas had been on paid leave following the arrest, Decker said.

“It’s really hard to think that we might have had an unsafe school environment,” Decker said. “It’s a gut punch to me as superintendent that this might have occurred.”

The alleged student fighting took place at Cloverdale High in early March, and a video of it recorded on a student’s cellphone was reviewed by the district. Sgt. Chris Parker said there were about a dozen students present or involved, and no weapons were used. A few of the students were injured, including one who required medical attention, he said.

Parker said never in his 21-year career as a police officer had he come across a situation in which a teacher allegedly was refereeing as students fought one another.

“You have to see it to believe it,” Parker said.

The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office is still investigating to determine whether or not charges will be filed, Parker said. Vargas could not be reached for comment.

You can reach Staff Writer Susan Minichiello at 707-521-5216 or susan.minichiello@pressdemocrat.com.