UPDATE: Parents slam School Board for division’s failure to notify them about alleged child abuse

Tyler Wright (above), on June 7, questioned the Warren County School Board about the recent alleged child abuse of his children at Hilda J. Barbour Elementary School.

The Warren County School Board faced several emotional parents seeking answers about alleged child abuse that is under investigation at Hilda J. Barbour (HJB) Elementary School in Front Royal, Va.

“I want you to picture a 27-year-old teacher smacking [my 4-year-old daughter] in the back of the head,” said Tyler Wright during the board’s regular Wednesday, June 7 meeting. “The same teacher who took her out of my arms every day, and I trusted with the safety of her and my son was the same one that was harming them.”

According to Wright, Warren County Public Schools (WCPS) employees Kayla Bennett, an HJB preschool teacher, and Cassandra Carter, her instructional assistant, were suspended from the school division on May 4 and May 5, respectively. After hearing from the public and following a closed meeting last night, the School Board voted to approve their dismissals.

According to Wright, WCPS Supervisor of Special Services Lisa Seal contacted him on May 9 about the alleged incidents involving his child.

“Why did it take until May 9th for Lisa Seal to call me? Why did I hear from other parents about the allegations that were made towards my kids in the classroom before [Seal called me]?” Wright asked School Board members. “No one from the school system made contact with me.”

After speaking with Seal, Wright said he specifically asked his two children if their teachers were harming them.

“My daughter informed me that she had been yanked by the arm to the ground, and my son informed me of the same, along with a couple of names of students he had witnessed being smacked or hit with items in the class,” said Wright. “I was outraged, as any parent would be.”

Wright, some of his family members, and numerous other parents and residents who spoke during the board’s community participation segment questioned why WCPS did not notify them sooner of what was happening at HJB, chastised board members and WCPS employees for withholding information, and urged them to do better.

Jennifer Mulligan of Front Royal, Va., whose son was in the HJB class that is under investigation, explained to board members that multiple students may have been physically assaulted in the classroom, some of who are disabled and non-verbal.

“As parents, our biggest fear is not being able to protect our children, and this situation has only magnified that fear,” Mulligan said. “I firmly believe that we need to do more to protect our children, especially those… who are unable to protect themselves.”

Mulligan suggested a “simple solution” — install cameras in the classrooms, particularly those for preschoolers and students with disabilities. 

“If this was in place already, the situation would not have occurred,” Mulligan said. “And if it had, it would’ve been caught a lot sooner, and these children would not have had to go through what they’ve had to go through.”

Another parent, Karla Snell (above), who is an instructional assistant at Warren County High School, said both her son and daughter attended HJB. Her daughter just graduated from fifth grade, while her young son just started preschool during the past year. And while her daughter loved every minute and every person at HJB, her son can’t say the same, Snell told the board members.

“Why is that my 3-year-old son’s first-ever school experience… has been shattered by one individual and people who wouldn’t speak up?” asked Snell, noting that all WCPS employees are mandatory reporters who have an individual duty to report known or suspected abuse or neglect relating to children. 

WCPS response

WCPS on May 19 issued a press release addressing the situation that said the administration became aware of a complaint involving staff members at HJB and promptly placed the staff members on leave while a joint investigation with the Warren County Sheriff’s Office and the local Department of Social Services was initiated..

“Parents of children in the affected classroom were contacted and urged to speak to their children and reach out to WCPS personnel if they had any additional questions or information,” according to the release. “Measures were taken to ensure that educational services and support continued uninterrupted in the classroom, with staffing adjustments being made.”

During his report to the School Board on Wednesday, WCPS Superintendent Christopher Ballenger read a statement explaining the process that is undertaken by the school division regarding incidents involving allegations of child abuse.

When WCPS is notified of a complaint, Ballenger said the process is to ensure that there is a clear determination of an alleged complaint.

“All school system employees are mandated reporters if the complaint concerns child abuse or neglect,” he said. “The school system employees are required to contact the Department of Social Services, per School Board policy… at the time of an initial allegation of abuse or neglect.”

Ballenger said that the school system can take many actions related to the allegations, and as a practice, any abuse or neglect complaints are followed with the removal of any staff member alleged in the complaint policy.

“This practice helps to ensure the safety of students, employees, employee’s rights and to ensure that an investigation can be conducted properly,” said Ballenger. “It is not the school division’s responsibility to determine if there is any upholding to abuse or neglect if that has occurred. This will be determined by the local Department of Social Services or the Sheriff’s Office.”

If there is no merit to any of the allegations, as determined by the Department of Social Services or the Sheriff’s Office, then the school system may reinstate an employee to active duty, he added.

But “if it is determined that allegations do have merit, or there is a finding, then WCPS will take additional actions as required by School Board policy with the Code of Virginia,” said Ballenger.

School Board responses

Members of the Warren County School Board took the opportunity during each of their reports to address the residents who spoke about the child abuse allegations.

School Board Vice Chair Ralph Rinaldi and board members Antoinette Funk, Andrea Lo, and Melanie Salins were present during the board’s Wednesday meeting. School Board Chair Kristen Pence was absent.

“This is very serious, and we need to take it seriously,” said Lo. “It’s very helpful for us to hear from you.”

Funk (above), who explained that there are certain things that board members cannot publicly discuss, empathized with the parents. As a parent of a special needs child who was nonverbal until almost age five and as an educator, Funk said that she doesn’t take their concerns lightly.

“But we have to work through and are bound by policies and procedures, and that is a tough pill to swallow,” she said. “There’s nothing I can say that will make that any easier.”

Salins suggested that every WCPS employee should sign a mandatory reporter document.

“If the policy is the problem, then I want the policies changed,” she said. “I want to know that every single employee has to sign an acknowledgment that they are a mandatory reporter. Nobody should set foot in a classroom if they have not signed something acknowledging that they’re a mandatory reporter.”

Among other suggestions, Salins also called for bringing in an outside investigating firm “to investigate not the crime, because that is the sheriff’s department’s job, but to investigate us [the School Board] and every employee in our district who was involved,” she said.

Several members of the audience applauded that suggestion.

In an email sent to the Royal Examiner tonight, Salins said that earlier in the meeting, she made a motion to remove the personnel report and addendum from the consent agenda in order to allow more discussion, which happened during a closed session after the last action item.

“After reading us out of closed session, we voted on agenda item 6C personnel report and 6D personnel report addendum,” Salins wrote in the email. “I made the motion, with Mrs. Lo seconding, to accept the personnel report as presented for the dismissal of Kayla Bennett and Cassandra Carter, to accept the resignations as presented with the exception of [two other employees], to accept the appointments and transfers as presented, and to accept the personnel addendum as presented. The vote was unanimous.”

To watch the School Board’s June 7 meeting in its entirety, go to:

To watch the School Board meeting in its entirety, go to: https://wcps.new.swagit.com/videos/234392. 

To watch a previous interview the Royal Examiner conducted with Tyler Wright regarding this situation, go to: https://royalexaminer.com/town-talk-incident-involving-hilda-j-barbour-elementary-staff-members-sparks-investigation-and-concern/.