Hazlewood Elementary School principal Datie Priest on leave for excessive paddling & threatening to ‘throat punch’ autistic student
The Hazlewood Elementary School principal has been put on administrative leave after accusations that include excessive paddling of a student, mishandling funds, and comments made about an autistic student, AL.com reported. Datie Priest was hired as the school’s principal in July 2020 hired at Hazlewood after her contract at Decatur City Schools was not renewed. Priest received a written reprimand on March 23 from Superintendent Jon Bret Smith regarding the accusations. Prior to working at Hazlewood, Priest worked 20 years with Decatur City Schools and served as principal at West Decatur Elementary from 2005 to 2016. She left as a teacher at DCS’s Center for Alternative Programs in July 2020, when she was named principal at Hazlewood in Town Creek. Her contract was non-renewed in March 2020. In the letter, Superintendent Smith detailed the paddling of a Hazlewood Elementary third-grader on March 4. The letter stated, “You are expected to follow board policies and procedures. Moreover, you are expected to discipline students in accordance with board policy and without endangering their health and welfare. Your recent actions are not in keeping with these expectations. “On March 4, 2022, you paddled a third-grader on two occasions. Ten licks or more were administered during the first paddling and five licks were administered during the second paddling.” According to the reprimand letter, Priest acknowledged the paddling incident to supervisors and then to Smith on March 11 and March 14. “On both March 11 and March 14, you stated the student was ‘given a choice of two licks by his teacher or ten by me, and it’s my personal belief that he would not take a paddling by a white teacher.’ You also stated, ‘I did not think he would choose ten licks,’” Smith wrote. The child never received a written disciplinary slip documenting the paddling and “in fact, you could not recall who witnessed the second paddling when you were questioned on March 11,” Smith stated in the letter. Smith on Thursday said “generally three licks” was the maximum allowed. AL.com attempted to call Priest, but she didn’t answer. In the letter, Smith also described an incident when two teachers witnessed inappropriate behavior regarding an autistic student bumping into Priest. “Your response was very concerning,” Smith wrote. “At the time, you told the two employees you would ‘throat punch’ the student if he ran into you again.” Smith also discussed how Priest would arrive to school late on most days and alleged that Priest was mishandling funds as well. According to the letter, Priest would allegedly direct the bookkeeper to withhold funds paid by students for things like snacks and to use the cash to purchase more such items to be sold to the students. He said the funds should have been deposited into a school account and a check issued to the vendor. In a letter dated March 25, Smith sent the Alabama State Department of Education a list of his reasons for placing Priest on administrative leave. Chris Lewis has been named interim principal at Hazlewood Elementary. He is an assistant principal at nearby R.A. Hubbard High School. Priest has an annual salary of $91,800 and will continue to be paid. District 1 school board member Christine Garner and Lawrence County Chapter of NAACP Vice President Bobby Diggs said they feel Superintendent Smith is biased in his treatment of Priest. “She gets unfairly treated,” Garner said. “She could be a very good asset for the Lawrence County school system if she is allowed to run the school the way it needs to be managed. She needs the board’s support, and she’s not getting it. Dr. Smith needs to become more aware of what is going on at Hazlewood Elementary. I believe she is doing the best job she can. She’s very qualified. “Some people think because she’s a Black woman, she can’t be a good principal. In Alabama, it’s hard for a Black woman to excel.” Diggs stated, “We’re still supporting her. She is a good principal.”
