Bob Shiles
Staff writer
LUMBERTON — The local chapter of the NAACP is demanding that the principal of Southside-Ashpole Elementary School be removed from her position, alleging that Dacia Bullard has mistreated students and parents.
Gloriesrenea Stackhouse, president of the chapter, on Tuesday told the Public Schools of Robeson County Board of Education that 12 parents have filed written complaints with the NAACP accusing Bullard of “discrimination, retaliation, unfair treatment, denial and refusal of parental involvement, and the unprofessional conduct of a school administrator.” These complaints were also filed with school officials in November, she said.
“The community has come together to seek a resolution to these issues, which have become a great concern for many,” she said. “Parents and students are tired of being mistreated, discriminated against and dealt with in such an inhuman way.”
Stackhouse did not cite any specific instances to back up her allegations, but told the board that parents have made many calls to school board member Brenda Fairley-Ferebee — who represents the district in Rowland where Southside-Ashpole is located — and to Johnny Hunt, the school district’s superintendent.
One Southside-Ashpole student, Malik McCallum, briefly addressed the board, telling members that he doesn’t feel everyone at the school is treated the same by the principal.
“The parents, students and community of Southside-Ashpole students are concerned about the constitutional rights violations, discrimination, and code of ethics violation of parents, staff and students of Southside-Ashpole Elementary School,” Demisa McCallum, Malik’s mother, said after the meeting. “Our students, parents and community deserve a principal who is fair and does not abuse her authority. Our students deserve a principal who does not discriminate against them or their parents.”
In a statement that she was going to present to the board, McCallum said that the principal’s “blatant disregard for the law” has caused many of the most highly qualified teachers to leave the school, as well as parents removing their children from the school. She also said Bullard has banned parents from the school if they challenged her decisions.
“It is time for this to stop,” McCallum said.
School administrators, including Hunt and Assistant Superintendent Stephen Gaskins, said the allegations are being investigated, but declined to to make any specific comments because the concerns raised are a personnel issue.
Ferebee told The Robesonian that she has met six times with the parents and other concerned community members.
“There are some concerns and they are being addressed,” she said. “I want to commend the parents for standing up for their children. I support the parents.”
Stackhouse said that the NAACP will settle for nothing short of Bullard being removed from her position.
“We want her out,” Stackhouse said. “If necessary, we are ready to take this case all the way to the national level of our organization.”
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, Jamie Burney, president of the Robeson Association of Educators, urged board members to lobby against any severe cuts in the federal budget, especially in the area of education.
Burney noted that the cuts in education, that could be as much as $5 billion nationally, would mean fewer services for 9 million public school students and job losses for 80,000 Americans.
“Unless Congress acts now to stop these budget cuts, education funding will fall off of a cliff in North Carolina,” he said. “Our best estimate is that the budget cuts would result in a reduction of more than $100 million in federal funding for North Carolina public schools and programs serving children.”
Hunt also expressed concern.
“With all of the federal programs we have, that could mean a loss of $3 million to $4 million,”Hunt said. “That would be in addition to the $30 million in state cuts we have had over the past four years.”
Also during Tuesday’s meeting, Gaskins said that seniors at Lumberton High School on Monday will receive the Apple Notebooks that they are being provided through a federal grant. The “roll out” will be held at the high school from 4 to 6 p.m.
We all have our issues with people in general...but a child is still a child. Instead of removing this woman from her position, shadow her, walk in her shoes for a week or three. If the children do have a problem behaving, them, call the parents and have a sit down. explain to them what will happen. document. document. document. If she is racially bias, them by all means, white, black, hispanic, native american, japanese, is doesnt matter, she needs to be removed. dont teach hate....Kids are our future..they will show us what they have been taught in 20 years....when they are up and coming mothers and fathers....
And as a volunteer at Red Springs High and President of booster club, i see a lot more than most parents...Have we taught our children to be citizens...have we taught them to love...have we set an example of how to live..DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO.....sound familiar?
Donnie Douglas
Editor
The Robesonian
Not one example is given.
ru4real,
The problem with "investigating" is that no one will talk to us b/c it is personnel. We aren't an accomplice in ruining a life. We don't have any special knowledge of the truth here. We covered a school board meeting and allegations were made. Anyone is free to write a letter to the editor in support of Ms. Bullard, or even to criticize her.
Donnie Douglas
Editor
The Robesonian
You truly can not be from Rowland N.C. Where there is 1 Grocery store (not owned by a black)Both gas stations owned by one family and a Chinese restaurant . How is that black controlled. Finally you obviously have no children to make such a silly comment about sending a child to boot camp. It is easy to talk about another persons child but until you have a child with an issue you can not walk a mile in that parents shoes.
I try to get through rowland as quickly as possible and never go through there at night because that is an unsafe town to be in.
Look at the other parents and they will say ms. bullard is doing a great job.
I dont like the ncaap nor what it stands for. This is one reason ehy I am glad the lumbees recieve help.for housing.
Secondly Serious123 if this isn't about color alone then why is the NAACP involved? You right about the KKK, they murdered innocent people physically because of their skin color and now you people want NAACP to kill innocent people mentally and emotionally when you should be happy that there are still people like Ms. Bullard who contend and genuinely cares about our children when most of you are glad to send them to HER everyday so you don't have to "put up with what you've created".
Thirdly I'd like to say most of the educators we lost at SAES due to "Ms. Bullard was because they'd lacked guidance and had a problem with authority and I personally was happy to see most of them go but, I never complained because it was personal preference which I'm sure is the situation here.
I'm not related to Ms. Bullard or is she a dear friend of mine but she is my children's principal and I think she does an awesome job especially with what she has to endure day in and day out. We as parents should accept th fact that our children aren't perfect, they will lie and we have to be adults and raise them. When they are grown and get a job, are you gonna try to get their supervisor fired if they don't "like" them when they don't get their way?
Secondly, I have read a lot of post about children with behavior problems. What does that mean? Are these children diagnosed with and or are they currently being medicated for such an issue, and if they are then they are no longer considered a child with a behavior problem, they have a disability despite what you’re personal feelings are. If these children are treated unfairly because a teacher or and administrator is tired of them, then that is a violation of their rights to receive a free appropriate education. Also the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says that all citizens have equal protection under the law.
We can agree to disagree but do it respectfully.
Well, it ain't going anywhere, cause Bullard is a minority too. So you loose NAACP. Better luck next time. I'll have more to say about my favorite subject in a bit, I'm entertaining some guests of mine.... Stay tuned, ooohh boy.
As educators we all must follow the code of ethics and try not to violate ANY person’s constitutional right whether they are African American, Native American, White, Blue, or Purple. This is not about color it is about the rights of individuals being violated. Discrimination is not about color alone.
Trust me if the KKK wanted an African American Principal out he or she would be gone no questions asked. It amazes me to see how individuals quickly down one group of activist over another. We all have constitutional rights and they should not be violated by anyone.
I am sure that these same parents have gone through the proper chain of command and obtained no result. So, I commend the parents on getting “WHOM EVER WILL” to listen to their concerns
Finally, I resent the statements that Children from Rowland are untrained. The students in Rowland or no more untrained than those anywhere else in the county.
And NAACP come around "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination."Isn't this what they were doing, fighting for the rights of these kids and their parents. I most definitely do not see this as being bias.
And maybe you do not fight for your kids, if you have any, when they are being treated unfair and unequal, but at least these parents had the guts to do so.
I myself do not know the principal at SouthSide but i do know the one at South Robeson High School and all i can say is Mr. Brook keep up the good work.
There are other children besides yours. It is time to get over the racial issues OK? So cheers to Mrs. Bullard for standing up to parents who need to walk a mile in an educators shoes for just one day!!! The grass is not greener on the other side - it is greener over the septic tank!
Reading your post made me feel like maybe you do not like kids or maybe you do not have any of your own. Me as a parent know the what is like to be a parent and to be a teacher and I would never want someone like you in my kids classroom.
It's never okay to give "cheers" or "kudos" to someone who is disrespectful, rude, ignorant, hateful, to others, much less children and their parents. The one thing that maybe you haven't realized is that if it wasn't for the "Parents" who had these "Students", then we would not be "Teachers".
I feel like these parents have done a stand up job of defending their kids because isn't that a part of a parent's job description.
I have some homework for you. Re-read all your posts, and then give yourself an "F" and quit your job. Your grammer and use of words is terrible. I hope you don't say words like you put them in sentences.
You have a problem. I would not let YOU teach my kids anything. You have a huge chip on your shoulder and a very nasty attitude. You sound angry.
Maybe the kids reading this can figure out who you are by your word usage and get YOU fired. I'm sure if the School Board was made aware of your grammer you would have some time off soon to try and get the chip off your shoulder.