North Carolina Shame
January 2008

Letter A
This letter was sent snail-mail on PTAVE stationery to selected recipients in North Carolina during the first week of January, 2008. Recipients, with links to their responses, are listed in the right-hand column below the photo.


Dear ______:

We are writing in the hope that you can clarify an area of ambiguity in the mandated reporting requirements of North Carolina as it applies to educators. If this matter is outside your purview, please direct us to the appropriate authority.

Background for our query is as follows:

On December 27, 2007, Peggy Dean, RN, who is a member of our Board of Directors, called the McDowell County Dept. of Social Services and described to an intake agent injuries to a child’s buttock area resulting from a battery inflicted by an adult on December 13, 2007. The agent confirmed that what Ms. Dean had described was indeed child abuse and challenged her as to why she had waited so long to report it. When Ms. Dean informed the agent that the alleged perpetrator is a school teacher, the agent indicated that her department has no authority to investigate such incidents.

Pursuing the matter with the Governor’s office, Ms. Dean was advised to call the McDowell County Safe Schools Coordinator who in turn referred her to Dr. Ira Trollinger, McDowell County Superintendent of Education. But when she reached Dr. Trollinger, he informed her that the only person who has standing to lodge a complaint in such circumstances is the parent of the involved child. This advice seemed to Ms. Dean to contradict her understanding of her legal obligation as a mandated reporter. In the course of their conversation, Dr. Trollinger asserted that there is a right way to corporally punish a child, but when Ms. Dean asked him to describe to her the “right way” and to cite any instruction on the subject he had received in the process of his training, he abruptly terminated the call.

We have written to the heads of several teacher training departments in major North Carolina universities asking if they offer candidates for teacher certification instruction in the correct way to corporally punish a student, or if their institution has ever offered such instruction. We are awaiting their replies. For your information, we are enclosing a page of photographs showing punishment-related injuries to schoolchildren — two of them from North Carolina.

Can you please advise us if there are certain classes of persons, such as school teachers, who are exempt from being reported under the mandated reporting requirement in North Carolina? Is there any language in the statute that calls for special treatment of school employees who are suspected of abusing students?

Thank you for your kind attention. We look forward to your response which we will share with our membership.

Sincerely,

Jordan Riak, Exec. Dir.
Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education

Enclosure: http://www.nospank.net/injuredkids.pdf




Letter B
This letter was sent snail-mail on PTAVE stationery during the first week of January, 2008 to selected department heads in teacher-training programs in North Carolina.


Dear ______:

We are writing to inquire if candidates for teaching certification attending your program currently receive any instruction in the use of corporal punishment. If no such instruction is offered, do you know if it was in the past? If so, can you tell us the approximate dates?

Thank you for your kind assistance. If an email response is more convenient for you, write to riak@nospank.net .

Sincerely,

Jordan Riak, Exec. Dir.
Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education (PTAVE)




Letter C
Ban Corporal Punishment North Carolina: A petition to members of the North Carolina legislature sponsored by PTAVE. Read it here.




Corporal Punishment in North Carolina Schools: Three Perspectives

  1. Peggy Dean's letter to education policy makers in North Carolina, January 31, 2008
  2. Rep. Cary Allred's letter to Peggy Dean, February 1, 2008
  3. A page from nine-year-old Allie Majni's daily journal, January 11, 2008
Read them here.

Corporal punishment-related injury to a schoolchild enrolled in a public school in McDowell County, N.C. The incident occurred on December 13, 2007. Photo was supplied to PTAVE by the parent.


Recipients of Letter A

Governor Michael F. Easley
Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-0301
Response of Jan. 11, 2008

Director Phillip Hardin
McDowell County Department of Social Services
145 E. Court St.
PO Box 338
Marion, NC 28752
Response of Jan. 23, 2008

Michael L. Lavender
County Commissioner
County Administration Bldg.
60 East Court Street
Marion, NC 28752
No response to date

Barry McPeters
County Commissioner
County Administration Bldg.
60 East Court Street
Marion, NC 28752
No response to date

J. Dean Buff
County Commissioner
County Administration Bldg.
60 East Court Street
Marion, NC 28752
No response to date

David N. Walker, Vice Chairman
County Commissioner
County Administration Bldg.
60 East Court Street
Marion, NC 28752
No response to date

Brad Greenway,
County District Attorney
McDowell Co. Courthouse
1 South Main Street
Marion, NC 28752
No response to date

Roy Cooper,
NC Attorney General
9001 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-9001
No response to date

Howard Lee, Chairman
State Board of Education,
6302 Mail Service Center,
Raleigh, NC 27699-6302
No response to date

John Cook, Chair
McDowell County DSS Board
145 E. Court St.
PO Box 338
Marion, NC 28752
No response to date

Andy Webb, Chair
McDowell County Board of Commissioners
145 E. Court St.
PO Box 338
Marion, NC 28752
No response to date

Priscilla Owenby - Chair
Board of Education
McDowell County Schools
334 S. Main St.
Marion, NC 28752
No response to date

Adolph Justice - Vice Chair
Board of Education
McDowell County Schools
334 S. Main St.
Marion, NC 28752
No response to date

Brian Piercy, Member
Board of Education
McDowell County Schools
334 S. Main St.
Marion, NC 28752
No response to date

Randy Williams, Member
Board of Education
McDowell County Schools
334 S. Main St.
Marion, NC 28752
No response to date

Terry English, Member
Board of Education
McDowell County Schools
334 S. Main St.
Marion, NC 28752
No response to date

Wayne Miller, Member
Board of Education
McDowell County Schools
334 S. Main St.
Marion, NC 28752
No response to date

Lynn Greene, Member
Board of Education
McDowell County Schools
334 S. Main St.
Marion, NC 28752
No response to date

Dewey Rayburn, Member
Board of Education
McDowell County Schools
334 S. Main St.
Marion, NC 28752
No response to date

Kay Sinclair, Member
Board of Education
McDowell County Schools
334 S. Main St.
Marion, NC 28752
No response to date

Senator. Vernon Malone
Senior Chairman
Senate Education/Public Instruction Committee
300 N. Salisbury Street, Rm. 314
Raleigh, NC 27603-5925
No response to date

Joe Sam Queen, Chair
Senate Education/Public Instruction Committee
16 W. Jones Street, Rm. 1117
Raleigh, NC 27601-2808
No response to date


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