Parents say teacher who allegedly slapped student at Carson Middle School has been abusive for months

Melissa Reddick was at work when she received a call from her son’s school.

“Your son isn’t in trouble,” Reddick said the principal told her. "But he’s here in my office because his teacher hit him.”

This wasn’t the first issue Reddick had experienced with this particular Carson Middle School teacher.

According to Reddick, there have been a number of incidences throughout this school year during which the teacher allegedly screamed at, swore at, and threatened students while in her classroom.

Just the week before, Reddick said, the teacher allegedly told her son to “shut the f*** up,” and told him he was annoying. When her son confided in another teacher about what he’d been told, that teacher told him to report the incident to the principal.

During the phone call with CMS Principal Amy Robinson, Reddick asked her son if he had reported what his teacher had said to him like he was told.

“Yes, he did,” Robinson told Reddick. “I’m aware of what happened.”

Reddick hasn’t been the only parent to report the teacher's behavior this year. As early as the first day of the school year, the teacher allegedly told a student that if they broke a chair she was going to “kick their ass,” and on the second day of school, allegedly screamed at her class to “shut the f*** up.”

Desiree Clampitt is one parent whose child has filed a formal complaint against the teacher this year, but according to Reddick, she personally knows of at least four other parents who have filed similar complaints.

Clampitt said that her son has had the teacher since the beginning of the school year, and as soon as the first day, she knew there was an issue.

“Right away he was saying ‘Mom, she swears,’” Clampitt said. “You know, kids are kids and I thought she may have accidentally said ‘shit’ or something like that; so I figured, as long as she’s not saying it towards a child, I let it go. People make mistakes. Then my son said it was getting worse and worse.”

Clampitt said her son told her that not only was his teacher telling the class to “shut the f*** up,” regularly, but that she would scream it at the students.

“I do not care what kind of child goes to that school, you do not scream profanities at any child,” Clampitt said. “My son is an athlete and has great grades, he’s well liked, but with that being said, no child regardless of their behavior should be screamed at like that.”

Clampitt said she questioned her son on one occasion what he had been doing to be screamed at and he said he had been chewing gum and spit it out in the trash can.

“I said, that’s it. I talked to someone at the office and they said, ‘You’re not the only parent who has complained about this teacher.’”

Clampitt said that her son went and filled out a formal statement regarding the treatment the class was receiving back in early December.

“Ever since then, he told me (the teacher) has been very sweet to him,” Clampitt said. “It’s completely unacceptable for any child to be treated this way. You never know what’s going on at home; teenage suicides and school shootings are at an all time high and as parents, we are trusting teachers to take care and teach our kids. After talking to other parents, I now know this teacher is known for this, and the school hasn’t done anything to stop it.”

According to Reddick, her son and a friend were in class when the alleged slap occurred. She said the boys were goofing off and measuring their hands and talking to each other when the teacher came up behind her son and slapped him in the back of the head.

Multiple other parents Carson Now spoke with confirmed the allegations that this teacher has been screaming, threatening and cussing at students since at least the beginning of the year. Those with students in her class also confirmed that their students reported Reddick's son had been slapped.

When asked to confirm that the incident occurred, and asked if any complaints have been filed against the teacher in the past, the district responded as follows:

“Personnel matters are confidential and will not be discussed publicly. The matter inquired about is under investigation. The district is committed to ensure a safe working and learning environment for all students and staff. All necessary steps will be taken to impose appropriate responses to any allegations, if found to be true.”

The district would not confirm whether or not she is still actively teaching students, and Carson Now was unable to reach anyone for comment at Carson Middle School. We will update with further information if it becomes available.

Reddick said that after she left the conversation with the principal, she called the sheriff’s office and has filed a battery report against the teacher.

While her son was being interviewed by a deputy, she learned that after the teacher allegedly slapped her son, “everyone started screaming.”

“It riled up the whole class,” Reddick said. “They were all screaming, saying ‘She just hit you!’ and ’That’s not okay!’ But when I asked my son if he said or did anything, he said no, he didn’t say anything. He was shaken up; he was probably humiliated.”

On Friday, Reddick called CMS to ask if the teacher was still teaching, and was told she had been removed while the incident was looked into.

“The school knew about it, since at least the second day of school,” Reddick said. “She flat out said she was going to kick someone’s ass; I guess it took her to actually hit a student before they did anything about it.”