Groups supports substitute teacher
By John Joyce
Published in News on October 22, 2014 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
April Hobbs-Cox answers questions from the audience at a rally held on behalf of former substitute teacher Janet Barnes.
More than 1,300 signatures have been collected online on a petition seeking to reinstate Janet Barnes, a Wayne County substitute teacher relieved of her duties last week for allegedly violating policy while breaking up a fight at Goldsboro High School in September.
Although no action was taken at the time of the incident, Mrs. Barnes was let go by the county schools on Oct. 14 after a cellphone video captured by a student was posted on Facebook.
Mrs. Barnes, a veteran teacher with more than 34 years of service and six years substituting experience, was escorted off school premises by a Goldsboro Police Department School resource officer, and her name removed from the district master substitute list.
At a community meeting held Tuesday at Mount Zion Church, residents demanded answers.
Organizers pastor Reco Hart and April Hobbs Cox fielded questions from attendees and, along with Delavisha Faison, promised to continue to fight to restore Mrs. Barnes' position, and ultimately, her reputation.
"We all want her back. But in the event that can't happen, we want to restore her character to where it was before," Hart said.
Mrs. Barnes did not attend the meeting.
An additional 200 handwritten signatures from students have been collected, as were 70 community-based signatures prior to the night's organizing.
Mrs. Faison left the meeting with about 50 more signatures added to the list.
A number of people in the audience were former students of Mrs. Barnes. Others were friends or former teachers themselves who believe Mrs. Barnes has not been treated fairly by the school system.
One man, James Gathers, came from Johnston County just to hear firsthand what actually happened that got his longtime friend and educator essentially "let go."
"I saw it on Facebook, but I wanted to come and find out what really happened," he said.
Several times throughout the night, Hart and other speakers referred to "the board" when discussing the decision made to remove Mrs. Barnes from the master list, causing one audience member to take issue.
Speaking strictly as a Wayne County resident and not as a member of the Wayne County Board of Education, the Rev. Dr. Dwight Cannon took the floor.
He commended Hart for his support of Mrs. Barnes and for his leadership, but said he had to correct one thing.
"This has not come before the board. This was a decision made at the Central Office," he said.
"The board does not employ one teacher, not one faculty member, not one coach. We have one employee, that is Dr. (Steven) Taylor," he said.
Cannon declined to take a position on the matter concerning Mrs. Barnes because he said he did not have all the facts.
"I am one man. I am one member, and I have one vote. I know that we are an at-will state, meaning the employer does not have to give a reason to fire you, but we as a board have a right to hear this as well," he said.
He said he came to the meeting to let Mrs. Barnes know that he supported her.
For now the group led by Mount Zion Hart, Mrs. Hobbs Cox and Mrs. Faison are awaiting a meeting with the superintendent.
Their first meeting, with assistant superintendent for human resources Marvin McCoy, ended in a "wait and see," attitude, Hart said.
"To quote what we were told, 'This ship will rise again. The tide comes in, it goes out, and it comes back in again. This ship will rise again,'" he said.
Hart said he has spoken to Mrs. Barnes as recently as Sunday and said she was taking time to reflect on what happened.
"She is hurt by the way it was handled," he said.
He said by the end of the call Mrs. Barnes had become tearful and said she never knew how many people she had touched and how much those people cared for her.