Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
District declines comment on allegations
ODESSA — After several parents and community members complained about alleged bullying and mistreatment by school district staff members and students at a March 22 board meeting, more community members came forward with further allegations.
Residents James Lane and Scarlett Maddock described their experience with the school district as parents and students in an email.
Lane and Maddock said their then 14-year-old daughter was threatened with gun violence at the middle school in early 2020.
“During band class one day, a male student told her that he was planning to bring a gun to school and that she would not be told when this would happen,” they alleged. “During that same class, she heard him tell two other girls, friends of his, that when he brought the gun to school, he would give them a heads up so they could hide in the multipurpose room before ‘he started using it.’”
“Both girls would later deny that he said this to them.”
Lane wrote that they attempted to file a restraining order against the male student but were denied by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.
“No restraining order was ever considered in this case,” he wrote. “(The office) even declined to take a formal report on the matter.”
Sheriff Gabe Gants said this week no corresponding report appears in the office’s system during early 2020.
Lane said his youngest daughter broke her ankle during recess at six years old. He claimed that the school wouldn’t let her call Maddock and was forced to run during physical education class.
“When the school was contacted, we were told that ‘she never said a word about it,’” Lane and Maddock wrote.
Bullying has been an issue in Odessa for decades, Lane said.
“The Odessa School District has always shown a pattern of bullying from students and staff,” Lane said. “Particularly toward students who don’t have ‘the correct last name,’ or students who weren’t born and raised in the city limits.”
The school district declined to comment on the new allegations.
— Reporter Ashley Parkinson contributed to this report.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
Reader Comments(0)