The administrator of a Tennessee elementary school was fired two and a half years ago after footage showing her dragging a special education student through the school surfaced.
Helen Campbell was fired from Walter Hill Elementary in Murfreesboro on Thursday for ‘unprofessional behavior, conduct unbecoming, insubordination, and lack of duty.’
According to Rutherford County Director of Schools Bill Spurlock, the anonymous student refused to comply with a request from Campbell on November 4, 2019.
She then seized the youngster by the ankles and pulled him approximately 570 feet, the length of two football fields, through the school’s corridor.
Minor injuries were received by the youngster. Kid abuse charges were brought against both Campbell and instructor Bonnie Marlar after Marlar assisted in dragging the kid.
A court finally dropped the accusations. Campbell and Marlar were expelled, and no conclusion on Marlar’s future with the school has been made.
Spurlock claims Campbell tried to destroy proof by deleting surveillance footage from the school’s cameras. Campbell pled no guilty and was sentenced to probation for a minor conviction. She entered the same plea to a negligence charge, ensuring a punishment but without admitting guilt.
Stills from the security footage were shown at a Thursday night board of education meeting, showing Campbell yanking the child’s arm off a chair, seizing him by the belt, and dragging him by the wrists. They are then shown taking the child by the ankles and hauling him to the rear of the school. They dragged him for 570 feet.
Tammy Sharp, a school member, pleaded in Campbell’s favor, claiming she was ‘outstanding’ at her work and that she was condemned by a court of public opinion.
‘No one on this board has ever talked to Miss Campbell.’ ‘We don’t know anything about this student’s past or his problems,’ Sharp explained. ‘I think it’s awful, and I’m sure our teachers who deal with situations like this every day are getting a chill today and looking for other employment.’
During the meeting, a special needs student administrator from the school system spoke.
‘I watched the video from start to finish. I saw no emergency conduct, and pulling the student approximately two football fields from the front to the rear of the building to the common room is not a CPI tactic or suitable restraint.’
Campbell’s dismissal was finally accepted 5-2. She has the right to appeal the verdict.
