Anonymous wrote: This could not have been a spank. A spank is planned and controlled, if you are administering a punishment. (Completely inappropriate here). This seemed playful to him, which seems wildly inappropriate given he's the principal. Is he a coach by chance? I still think it's inappropriate touching (especially here for man to a 12 yo) but I see butt swatting in sports all the time.

I see male coaches of children butt-swat male players NOT female ones.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Lapse of judgement in this day and age. The student probably deserved it, however.

No child ever deserves to be hit for refusing to pick up a piece of trash.

--a teacher

You're right that no student should be hit, however she definitely deserved it after talking back.

Are you serious?!?

No. Kids shouldn't be hit for talking back. Somehow I managed to teach for 15 years in a variety of high stress situations without hitting kids for any reason. Thank God that I had more classroom management tools than violence.

This was wrong, but I understand how it could happen...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The principal sounded a little too familiar with this 12 year old. Something about, "smart alecky" which was "typical of her." How well did he know her? Seems kind of odd, kind of creepy. And Doesn't he have a lawyer? Why in the world is he talking?

Agree that the creep factor is high. Especially when a man hits the rear end of a 12 year old girl. And that talking to the press is terrible. He is not helping himself.

I though Garza had the reputation of putting really strong principals in the weaker schools. What in the world would have lead her to keep someone with such terrible judgment at a failing school-- or any school. Betcha there is more in this guy's background than was reported in the article.

Any Sandberg parents on here? They are awfully quiet. Longfellow, RR, Carson, Franklin, Cooper, Thoreau, Kilmer, Jackson, etc. parents are all over this board.

Don't pin this hire on Garza. This was the work of the new superintendent. Yup. Scott Brabrand hired Yarborough when he was the cluster superintendent. Garza was far away in Texas. Scott thought he was great. As for keeping him there when she did arrive...Garza was dealing with quite a few other folks. He didn't present this issue until after she left.

A grown man slapping a 12 year old girl on her bottom? Gross.

Other posts about Sandburg have mentioned it, but a big reasons parents from the wealthier schools avoided it and then went back to West Potomac is that the school has a harsh, harsh disciplinary approach. Part of it is that the school throws together two very different demographics for the first time and that, combined with middle school developmental drama, is a tinderbox. So, it was known as a school with a lot of fights and aggressive students until this principal came along. It's not as violent a place, but when I tried it for my son and I pulled him two months into the year because it went in the opposite direction. It's not a nurturing learning environment, it's harsh and it's heavy on the disciplinary tactics.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: This could not have been a spank. A spank is planned and controlled, if you are administering a punishment. (Completely inappropriate here). This seemed playful to him, which seems wildly inappropriate given he's the principal. Is he a coach by chance? I still think it's inappropriate touching (especially here for man to a 12 yo) but I see butt swatting in sports all the time.

The description in the paper didn't even sound as hard as a sports butt swat. I would never condone hitting a child but it certainly doesn't sound like a "spanking" occurred. They should release the tape.

Perhaps because it was his description that minimized the act and suggested it was playful? This happened in the cafeteria according to the article, so there were a lot of witnesses (students, teachers, staff). As they did bring charges, those witnesses must have all had similar accounts of the inappropriate situation.

I hear what you're saying but it is awfully easy to charge someone with a crime. It will be interesting to see if this progresses. There is a lot of support for him and coming from people who have said they witnessed the interaction. Time will tell.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: This could not have been a spank. A spank is planned and controlled, if you are administering a punishment. (Completely inappropriate here). This seemed playful to him, which seems wildly inappropriate given he's the principal. Is he a coach by chance? I still think it's inappropriate touching (especially here for man to a 12 yo) but I see butt swatting in sports all the time.

The description in the paper didn't even sound as hard as a sports butt swat. I would never condone hitting a child but it certainly doesn't sound like a "spanking" occurred. They should release the tape.

Perhaps because it was his description that minimized the act and suggested it was playful? This happened in the cafeteria according to the article, so there were a lot of witnesses (students, teachers, staff). As they did bring charges, those witnesses must have all had similar accounts of the inappropriate situation.

Anonymous wrote: This could not have been a spank. A spank is planned and controlled, if you are administering a punishment. (Completely inappropriate here). This seemed playful to him, which seems wildly inappropriate given he's the principal. Is he a coach by chance? I still think it's inappropriate touching (especially here for man to a 12 yo) but I see butt swatting in sports all the time.

The description in the paper didn't even sound as hard as a sports butt swat. I would never condone hitting a child but it certainly doesn't sound like a "spanking" occurred. They should release the tape.

This could not have been a spank. A spank is planned and controlled, if you are administering a punishment. (Completely inappropriate here). This seemed playful to him, which seems wildly inappropriate given he's the principal. Is he a coach by chance? I still think it's inappropriate touching (especially here for man to a 12 yo) but I see butt swatting in sports all the time.

Several PPs have said that even though the principal should not have hit the child, she still deserved it. That is just ludicrous. She did not deserve to be hit. She deserved some discipline, but not hitting.

Maybe that's what you meant. Not sure. I just hope nobody here employs this logic on their own kids: I shouldn't have hit him, but he deserved it!

I was a Sandburg parent this past year (DS is now a rising 9th grader.) Over spring break (April 10th), we received an email from Terry Dade, our Assistant Superintendent telling us that Yarborough was on leave and announcing the appointment of one of the assistant principals in the role of principal designee. It was an odd email and more so because we received it during spring break. The rumors were flying and all the kids were talking about what happened. I just read his statement in the Washington Post, and the only difference between his statement and the rumors were that he said the girl would not pick up a piece of paper and my son's friends were saying it was an orange peel.

I attended the April 19th PTA meeting. Several parents expressed their support for Mr. Yarborough. An administrator at the school, Mr. Kewer, spoke at the PTA meeting. He gave his viewpoint of the incident (which I thought was an extremely unprofessional thing to do.)

On April 26th, we received an email announcing the appointment of an interim principal, Larry Jones. Terrence Yarborough resigned the first week of May.

A petition was circulated among parents asking that Mr. Yarborough not resign. As of today, it has 262 signatures. I did not sign that petition. I was actually happy to see him resign.

From the moment that I walked into Sandburg, I thought the school had an overly authoritarian atmosphere. I have another child who attended another middle school in FCPS, and that school was extremely warm and inviting. Last year, we received an email from Mr. Yarborough about incidents in the school and several students had suffered broken bones and concussions. I wish I had kept the email. It was troubling because if several children did suffer injuries, there are serious problems at the school. But if he was exaggerating, he was being extremely unprofessional. I did not have a child at Sandburg before he was arrived at the school, but from what I've been told, the school had serious discipline problems and he did restore order.

"Talked back?" Seriously? This man was a Principal of a middle school, shame on him for laying a hand on a student. There is no excuse for such a lack of professionalism on his part. None, as you can't excuse his actions. He was the principal, he was to ensure every student had a quality education, felt safe, and be a good role model, treating every student with respect.

Apparently there was a petition started by parents asking for Yarborough to be rehired at Sandburg. Did they know these details? Or did it not matter, for they blamed the victim for his actions. It seems he blames her not himself.

Anonymous wrote:The principal sounded a little too familiar with this 12 year old. Something about, "smart alecky" which was "typical of her." How well did he know her? Seems kind of odd, kind of creepy. And Doesn't he have a lawyer? Why in the world is he talking?

Agree that the creep factor is high. Especially when a man hits the rear end of a 12 year old girl. And that talking to the press is terrible. He is not helping himself.

I though Garza had the reputation of putting really strong principals in the weaker schools. What in the world would have lead her to keep someone with such terrible judgment at a failing school-- or any school. Betcha there is more in this guy's background than was reported in the article.

Any Sandberg parents on here? They are awfully quiet. Longfellow, RR, Carson, Franklin, Cooper, Thoreau, Kilmer, Jackson, etc. parents are all over this board.

The principal sounded a little too familiar with this 12 year old. Something about, "smart alecky" which was "typical of her." How well did he know her? Seems kind of odd, kind of creepy. And Doesn't he have a lawyer? Why in the world is he talking?