Parents of a 10-year-old girl, who is a student at McCoy Elementary School, have removed their daughter from the local district after they said she has been verbally, physically and mentally abused because of her race.
Those parents said city school leaders have banned them from school property, following their attempts to protect their child in an environment they consider unsafe. In fact, the parents said their concerns were met with “smiles” from the school principal.
Prince Hill and Nikki Rollin appeared before the Board of Mayor and Aldermen during its open meeting Monday to share their concerns following several incidents surrounding their daughter at the local elementary school.
“I am here to address and shine light on the schools of Yazoo City,” Hill said. “I feel the state is not representing Yazoo City as they should.”
The Yazoo City schools fall under the Mississippi Achievement School District, following the state takeover in 2019. There is no local school board representing the city schools.
“My ten-year-old daughter has been abused,” Hill continued. “She has been hit. She has had milk poured on her head all because she is white. She is only ten years old. She has been slapped a couple of times.”
Hill said Lakesha Doyle, principal of McCoy Elementary School, is aware of the incidents surrounding his daughter. However, he said when his fiancé, Nikki Rollin, has approached Doyle about the situation, Doyle “has smiled.”
“My fiancé advised me that Doyle even smiled to her face a couple of times, which was in disbelief of me,” Hill said. “We had an incident where a boy chased my daughter around with a pencil, threatening to kill her because she was white and didn’t belong in the school.”
Hill also said he has met with Cedric Brown, the schools’ director of safety and security, and Superintendent Earl Watkins.
“Footages at the school came up missing,” Hill said. “Aren’t the cameras at the school supposed to be running at all times to provide safety to our children? I feel they are not.”
Hill said his meeting with Brown was also supposed to be recorded.
“But when we got to the superintendent’s office, that recording had been erased,” Hill said.
“My daughter was slapped last week by a girl,” Hill continued. “But sometimes I am not able to go to the school because of work. When my fiancé goes up there, I feel they don’t like her going up there because she will raise some hell for her daughter, as she should as a parent. The next day, that same girl slaps her again. This time I am mad. I admit that I am furious. I am so mad that they make me leave the school, but I never threatened them. We recorded that meeting ourselves. But I have been given notice that I am not allowed on the premises, nor my fiancé, who said nothing.”
Hill said Doyle also “smiled in his face” as he was leaving the school during the last incident.
“They want me to take my daughter to the school, but I can’t be there to protect her,” he asked. “Who is going to protect her? I feel that the state is letting us down.”
Hill and Rollin said they removed their daughter from the city schools Monday and are now paying for her to be homeschooled.
“We withdrew my daughter from the school this morning,” Hill said. “My daughter should have equal opportunity to learn as any child. Brown questioned why my fiancé wanted to press charges if we were taking my daughter out of the school. It’s not just about my child. It’s about all the children. They said I have to get a lawyer to press charges. Why is that?”
Rollin said when her daughter was slapped last week, the school did not notify her about the incident. She said she discovered the situation when she noticed marks on her child when she picked her up from school that afternoon.
“They never called me one time that my child was hurt,” Rollin said. “They said they had too much going on at the school to call me and let me know that my child was slapped. Both times I found out when I picked up my daughter from school, and she had marks on her face. And Doyle smiles in my face every time. I withdrew her and am paying for homeschool for her safety and mental health. They let my child get slapped in front of a teacher. The teacher said, ‘sit down and do not hit her back or I am going to call your mother and tell her you are not doing your schoolwork.’ She has been doing all her work. That teacher blackmailed my child. They are not even calling parents when they are hurt. “
Mayor David Starling apologized to both Hill and Rollin for their situation.
“As a parent, I certainly can understand your frustration, and that your child’s safety at school is the utmost important,” Starling said. “We as a board are in a unique situation. We don’t have a school board that the city is able to get in and make suggestions. All we can do is try to have a line of communication with the schools. If all of this is completely accurate, it’s a shame. For the interest of this young lady and educating the next generation, let’s revisit with (Superintendent) Watkins. I am going to ask that you revisit with meeting with him.”
Starling said school leaders must work to remedy this case and find a solution.
“You certainly have our support in this,” Starling said, to the parents. “Being a former educator, educating children is still one of my passions. Your daughter deserves no less than any other child attending school here in Yazoo City.”
