PEARISBURG, Va – Parents in Giles County are speaking out after teachers at Macy McClaugherty Elementary School allegedly sent insensitive messages about their students.
Drew Simmons and his family have lived in Giles County their entire lives, so sending their daughter to school there was a no-brainer.
“I’ve always taught my child goes to school you respect your teachers you do your work, do your best, be kind,” Jennifer Simmons said.
But recently their daughter started experiencing problems in the classroom at school. So Jennifer asked the school division for more information, and what she got shocked her.
“It can’t be dismissed, what we saw, it was racial comments, referring to children in ways that they should never be referred to body-shaming comments talking about children’s looks,” Drew and Jennifer Simmons said.
Documents Jennifer says she obtained under the Freedom of Information Act allegedly show that in a school division instant messenger, her daughter’s teachers referred to her as a “red-headed demon” and made other comments about her daughter’s weight.
“To see this type of behavior from someone that is supposed to be there to teach and supposed to be there, that a child can look up to, is unbelievable,” Drew Simmons said.
The couple posted the documents on Facebook and got an overwhelming response from fellow parents demanding answers.
“We want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to anyone, any child again. And we’ve had parents that have come to us and said, this is why I pulled my child out of the school five years ago,” Drew Simmons said.
10 News requested our own copy of the documents, under the Virginia code the school division has five days to respond. We also reached out to Giles Superintendent Terry Arbogast who says the division was made aware of Jennifer’s Facebook post and responded by saying:
“Giles County Public Schools was made aware of the issues that were shared in the information that has been posted on Facebook recently. As educators, we are not only responsible for providing the best education possible for all of our students, we also have the responsibility to provide our students with a safe environment to support their mental well-being. Giles County Public Schools does not support or condone this type of behavior and we have gone through the process to address these issues per our policies. Due to this being a personnel issue, we will not be able to comment on any discipline for our employees.
As a school system and an education community, we will continue to provide the best opportunities for all of our students and provide them the tools to be successful adults moving forward. "
10 News asked the superintendent if the teachers in question are still currently employed at the school and have not gotten a response.