Rick Dean
Registered
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/cla...4/09joella.html
Another incompetent affie-action negro loses their job, only to run to the NAACP in the aftermath of the firing.
School nurse to fight firing
Abuse case creates fallout for staff
By S.A. REID
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A nurse fired from a Henry County middle school this week is fighting to get her job back, saying she didn't know teachers suspected student Joella Reaves was being abused before her recent death.
Carolyn Clemons said she feels unfairly targeted and has enlisted the lo
al NAACP branch and a lawyer.
"I feel disappointed," Clemons said Thursday. "I feel like the school didn't give any support. I feel like I've been used as a scapegoat." <
br><
br>District officials continue to refuse to comment on what they consider a confidential personn
el matter, but Superintendent Jack Parish did say that the school system has finished its investigation.
"I think our information-gathering is complete," Parish said Thursday. "Of course, we will continue to cooperate with authorities who may be looking into this matter."
On Wednesday, Clemons and social worker Colandra Taylor became the latest staff members at Eagle's Landing Middle to leave under a cloud after school staffers failed to forward two teachers' concerns to the county Department of Children and Family Services. School officials are required by law to report possible child abuse.
The suspicions surfaced in September, more than a month before
police found Joella dead at her Stockbridge home. Her father, Rodney Reaves, and stepmother, Charlott, have been charged with her murder. Authorities say they beat and starved Joella to death during Th
anksgiving w
eek.
Patricia White, a counselor, was fired Dec. 30 after a dismissal hearing before the school board.
Clemons, a
contract employee of the district for three years, isn't entitled to a similar hearing. Though interviewed during the district's internal investigation, Clemons said she was unaware she faced disciplinary action.
The Henry County NAACP chapter has been monitoring the situation and plans to work closely with Clemons and Taylor. Taylor, who resigned, did not return calls to her home on Thursday.
NAACP President Dan Edwards accuses the district of pandering to the public and unjustly selecting employees for punishment. Said Edwards: "I believe in justice and I'm not feeling it right now."
In mid-December, school board lawyer
Buddy Welch asked Clemons whether she had examined Joella on Sept. 11 or saw any students with black eyes.
Superintendent Parish, she said, called her Wednesday morning and asked her to eithe
r resign by 2 p.m.
or be fired for "questionable" job performance, but never officially tied it to the Joella Reaves case. Clemons said she chose not to quit and immediately
went home. She said she had no contact with Joella in September and never saw any signs of abuse, such as a severely bruised face, described in testimony during White's hearing.
Teacher Michelle Meason, however, told the school board in her testimony that she called Clemons to her classroom to check on Joella. Clemons looked Joella over while Meason was busy with other homeroom students, then left the classroom without offering her an assessment of the girl and soon was gone for the day, Meason said.
White testified that she had heard that Clemons saw Joella, but said she never met with the nurse to discuss her
findings.
No one, Clemons insists, came to her with any concerns that day or afterward. Had she been alerted, Clemons said, she would have examined Joella and detailed her findings on a
form that goes to DFCS. He
r assignment at Eagle's Landing, one of several schools on her duty roster, ended Oct. 2.
Another incompetent affie-action negro loses their job, only to run to the NAACP in the aftermath of the firing.
School nurse to fight firing
Abuse case creates fallout for staff
By S.A. REID
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A nurse fired from a Henry County middle school this week is fighting to get her job back, saying she didn't know teachers suspected student Joella Reaves was being abused before her recent death.
Carolyn Clemons said she feels unfairly targeted and has enlisted the lo
al NAACP branch and a lawyer.
"I feel disappointed," Clemons said Thursday. "I feel like the school didn't give any support. I feel like I've been used as a scapegoat." <
br><
br>District officials continue to refuse to comment on what they consider a confidential personn
el matter, but Superintendent Jack Parish did say that the school system has finished its investigation.
"I think our information-gathering is complete," Parish said Thursday. "Of course, we will continue to cooperate with authorities who may be looking into this matter."
On Wednesday, Clemons and social worker Colandra Taylor became the latest staff members at Eagle's Landing Middle to leave under a cloud after school staffers failed to forward two teachers' concerns to the county Department of Children and Family Services. School officials are required by law to report possible child abuse.
The suspicions surfaced in September, more than a month before
police found Joella dead at her Stockbridge home. Her father, Rodney Reaves, and stepmother, Charlott, have been charged with her murder. Authorities say they beat and starved Joella to death during Th
anksgiving w
eek.
Patricia White, a counselor, was fired Dec. 30 after a dismissal hearing before the school board.
Clemons, a
contract employee of the district for three years, isn't entitled to a similar hearing. Though interviewed during the district's internal investigation, Clemons said she was unaware she faced disciplinary action.
The Henry County NAACP chapter has been monitoring the situation and plans to work closely with Clemons and Taylor. Taylor, who resigned, did not return calls to her home on Thursday.
NAACP President Dan Edwards accuses the district of pandering to the public and unjustly selecting employees for punishment. Said Edwards: "I believe in justice and I'm not feeling it right now."
In mid-December, school board lawyer
Buddy Welch asked Clemons whether she had examined Joella on Sept. 11 or saw any students with black eyes.
Superintendent Parish, she said, called her Wednesday morning and asked her to eithe
r resign by 2 p.m.
or be fired for "questionable" job performance, but never officially tied it to the Joella Reaves case. Clemons said she chose not to quit and immediately
went home. She said she had no contact with Joella in September and never saw any signs of abuse, such as a severely bruised face, described in testimony during White's hearing.
Teacher Michelle Meason, however, told the school board in her testimony that she called Clemons to her classroom to check on Joella. Clemons looked Joella over while Meason was busy with other homeroom students, then left the classroom without offering her an assessment of the girl and soon was gone for the day, Meason said.
White testified that she had heard that Clemons saw Joella, but said she never met with the nurse to discuss her
findings.
No one, Clemons insists, came to her with any concerns that day or afterward. Had she been alerted, Clemons said, she would have examined Joella and detailed her findings on a
form that goes to DFCS. He
r assignment at Eagle's Landing, one of several schools on her duty roster, ended Oct. 2.