Student in Parkland slaps teacher!!! pic.twitter.com/JWrPAcW5LN
— Bobby Johnson (@JussBlaze8) April 16, 2024
Forsyth County, North Carolina’s top law enforcement and justice officials gathered Tuesday to collectively condemn a student attack on a teacher, demonstrate their support for local teachers and send a message to students that there will be severe consequences if they assault a staff member.
“We expect the message to be delivered that if you put your hand on law enforcement, you put your hand on a teacher, justice will be swift and mighty,” said District Attorney Jim O’Neill.
Joined by Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough Jr. and Winston-Salem Police Chief William Penn Jr., O’Neill made the statement after what he called the considerable buzz generated by video showing a Parkland High School student twice smacking the face of a teacher in a classroom Monday.
The juvenile, a male, teenage student, was charged Tuesday with two counts of misdemeanor assault and one count of communicating threats.
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School superintendent Tricia McManus said she will recommend that the student be expelled. Expulsion is a process that involves a hearing officer who works within the school district’s legal department.
The hearing officer makes the ultimate decision on expulsion; however, a superintendent’s recommendation will carry weight, McManus said.
“Our teachers need to feel safe in their classrooms,” she said.
In the 38-second video, the student smacks the teacher in the face, approaches her desk and asks: “Want me to hit you again?”
“I don’t want it,” the teacher said.
The student hits the teacher again, sending the teacher’s glasses flying.
“Ain’t nobody coming,” the student said in a sing-song voice as he walked to the back of the room. “You just got slapped. Go back to teaching.”
The teacher remained seated during the entire time of the recorded incident.
Shortly after, video of the incident started to spread on social media.
The teacher declined medical treatment and reported to work on Tuesday, a show of resiliency, O’Neill said.
Tripp Jeffers worked with the teacher when he was at Parkland.
“She is a wonderful teacher,” said Jeffers, who is now a staff member with the N.C. Association of Educators. “This is shocking to the core. No educator should be treated this way.”
Kimbrough said he was horrified while watching the video.
“The community should be outraged,” he said. “I know there are a lot of things in our society that used to be sacred, but there are some things that must remain sacred. Those that educate our children, those that give our children hope, must not go to work in fear of being assaulted.”
Kimbrough and O’Neill declined to go into specifics of the incident, including who notified school authorities. Parkland typically has two school resource officers at its school. SROs, as they are commonly called, are deputies with the sheriff’s office.
O’Neill said he spoke to the victim Tuesday morning and that she has experienced an outpouring of support over the last 24 hours.
“I’m delighted to see this community rise up and support our teachers,” he said. “They deserve it. They have a thankless job and very difficult job.”
Penn said the video doesn’t represent the community and called on people to come together to ensure the safety of the community.
“To the teachers, we stand with you,” he said. “Let’s not forget our students who have to be traumatized by what they saw.”
The school district had 46 incidents of students assaulting school personnel in 2022-23, the fifth most in the state.
Jenny Easter, the president of the Forsyth County Association of Educators, called the incident a “travesty” and an example of the challenges teachers face every day.
“Schools should be a safe place free of violence for staff and students alike. The level of disrespect toward educators, to be frank, is one of the many reasons we have a major teacher exodus crisis in the state,” Easter said.
The local and state educator associations said they are committed to supporting staff members.
“And we feel confident that the school district is responding appropriately,” Easter said.
Board chairperson Deanna Kaplan said before Tuesday’s school board meeting that the video was despicable and deeply disturbing.
“And it will not be tolerated,” she said.