ROWLAND — The Sheriff’s Office is investigating a complaint that the principal of Southside-Ashpole Elementary School assaulted a student.
Dacia Bullard is in her fourth year as the principal of the school, which is in Rowland
“We received a complaint on a principal,” said Randall Graham, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office, on Friday. “It came from parents, citizen advocates and the NAACP. The juvenile division is investigating it as we speak. The complaint stated that the principal grabbed and shook the student.”
Other details, including the date of the alleged incident, the name and age of the student who is the alleged victim, were not made available to The Robesonian.
Twelve parents previously filed written complaints with the local chapter of NAACP in November accusing Bullard of “discrimination, retaliation, unfair treatment, denial and refusal of parental involvement, and the unprofessional conduct of a school administrator.” The complaints were aired before the Board of Education of the Public Schools of Robeson County at its December meeting.
A parent told the school board at the time that good teachers had left the school because of Bullard, and that some students had transferred to other schools.
Tasha Oxendine, public relations director for the school system, issued the following statement when contacted by The Robesonian on Friday: “This issue in question is being reviewed externally and we have no information to share.”
Bullard was a teacher from 1992 to 1999, and served as an assistant principal for about six years, including a total of about three years at Union Chapel, Prospect and elementary schools and Townsend Middle School. She was principal at Janie C. Hargrave Elementary School for two years, and has been principal of Southside Ashpole School since 2009.
First and for most no child is an angel because their not perfect and if parents would raise their children to have manners and respect for the elderly I guess we wouldn't have this problem to begin with. Yes the NAACP does suppose to help all races dealing with color but some people take the C which stands for color the wrong way. I know for a fact Mrs. Bullard would have never "shook" a child. When a loyal principal does her job correctly their is always gonna be complaints and obviously it's taking place because parents think the world evolves around them and their "ANGELS."
...And you're obviously the child's parent. You know, when children disrupt a classroom, especially in a school as small as Southside-Ashpole, word gets around. The person who made the above comment doesn't necessarily have to be the principal. I'm sure everyone on campus as soon as the authorities started walking out the door know which child they were there for and which parent sent them. So just because someone knows a little more information than the general public doesn't mean that they are on the inside. It could mean that they are on the outside and paying a little more attention.
But while you're paying attention, the statement that "the only people that would know this information and also know how many times this child has been in trouble is the parent, child principal, and investigators" is completely false.
More than likely the child gets in trouble in the classroom, so the child has a discipline referral that is written by the TEACHER. The teacher or student then turns this referral in to the SECRETARY, PRINCIPAL, or NCWISE staff member, whoever may be in the office at that moment. Ultimately, this referral is logged by the NCWISE staff member in a discipline referral notebook. That's three other staff members that you left out. Already, other students have witnessed what happened in the classroom, the secretary has the student, for everyone who walks in the door to see, and a discipline referral in front of her. Word travels in a school, just like it does when the community reads the Robesonian. And like when reading the Robesonian, just because there are rumors and allegations, doesn't mean they are always true.