LOS LUNAS, N.M. – A former Los Lunas High School teacher turned in his resignation after the semester ended because he’s accused of hitting a student. 

Court documents show Joseph Wisneski is charged with misdemeanor battery. The charges come after an alleged argument with a student back in November 2023. That’s when police say the 16-year-old student told them Wisneski punched him in the chest. 

According to the student, he was visiting Wisneski’s classroom with permission from another teacher. Wisneski repeatedly asked the student to leave his classroom.

Police say the student leaves and is followed by Wisneski, and that’s when things escalated. 

Police say surveillance video shows Wisneski hitting the student, and then the pair argue for almost five minutes before they’re pulled away by a principal. 

According to the mother of the student, he was afraid to come back to school because the student was afraid of retaliation from Wisneski. 

The Los Lunas School District confirmed Wisneski submitted his resignation on Dec. 21 and is no longer an employee.

A public online school calendar shows that was the first day of winter break, but it’s unclear if Wisneski was teaching during the period after the incident in November and winter break. 

Wisneski has not been taken into custody, and pleaded not guilty during an earlier court hearing. 

Wisneski is set to be back in court for the charges later this month.