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A Connecticut substitute teacher pleaded not guilty to organizing student "flght clubs" during class. A classroom is pictured at a school in Paris on June 15, 2017. Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images)

A Connecticut substitute teacher accused of organizing student fights inside a high school classroom pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of reckless endangerment.

Ryan Fish appeared before the Norwich Superior Court where he requested a jury trial and filed his plea with an attorney. His next court date is June 20.

Cellphone videos show Fish seemingly cheering on students ages 14 to 16 as they hit each other during math class at Montville High School, according to the Hartford Courant. He can also be seen appearing to clear items out of the way in the classroom so the fights could continue.

Fish, 23, was charged with several counts of second-degree reckless endangerment, risk of injury to a minor and breach of peace, the Associated Press reported.

He was fired in October after police began investigating a claim a student made to a social worker that the boy was robbed and attacked while at school.

"I am so sorry. ... To be perfectly honest, I was just trying to reach the kids," Fish reportedly said when asked about the alleged bouts. "I thought these kids were just being rambunctious. I just thought they needed an out."

Students told police that Fish let them draw lewd photos on the chalkboard in class and admitted to doing drugs, reported WTIC, a Fox affiliate in Hartford, Connecticut.

Fish allegedly told the high school's principal that "boys will be boys” when confronted at the time about the alleged fights. The school fired Fish later that day.

The school's assistant principal Tatiana Patten told police officers in December that she suspected the fights were happening and that videos had circulated of students "slap fighting each other in the middle of Mr. Fish's class."

Three Montville High School officials, the principal, the assistant principal and the superintendent, were arrested in April for not notifying police and have since been placed on leave. Knowledge of the incidents was only reported after police started an investigation.

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