3:06pm: Hotline with Dave Weekley

Hoppy’s Commentary for Monday

Update for 12n: Moffett was bound over to the grand jury on the felony child abuse charge. 

Mason County elementary school principal Cameron Moffett finds himself in magistrate court Monday morning to face a felony criminal charge of assaulting a fifth grade student. 

The charge stems from an incident where Moffett physically removed a student from a school bus.  The child was apparently involved in some disturbance with other students and was subsequently told by a teacher to move to another seat, and later instructed by Moffett to get off the bus.

The child refused. The bus security video shows Moffett grabbing the student and essentially rolling the boy a short distance down the aisle.

Once off the bus—and it’s unclear from the video whether Moffett pushed the child or the child fell—Moffett holds the boy down on the ground. The criminal complaint says Moffett put a knee in the child’s back.

The parents of the 11-year-old, who is classified as a special needs student, have sued, claiming the principal used excessive force.  They claim the boy suffered “injury to his face and arm,” though Moffett’s attorney, Jim Lees, maintains the injury amounted to a scrape.

As you might imagine, this is a highly-charged incident that has had a polarizing effect on those following it closely. 

Many Mason County teachers have rallied to Moffett’s defense.  In fact, a scheduled non-instructional day last Friday was shifted to today so teachers can go to the hearing as a show of support.

Others see this case as a bad example of how a frustrated adult overreacts when trying to manage a student with behavioral issues. 

Teachers and school administrators walk a tightrope when disciplining students, especially those with special needs.  They have a responsibility to protect misbehaving students from themselves and others, but there are limits in how far they can go.

Yes, a teacher can restrain a student, but at what point does restraint devolve into manhandling or abuse?

And each case has its own particular circumstance.  Lees argues that in this instance, five buses loaded with children embarking on a field trip were held up because one student refused repeated instructions from a teacher and a principal.

Lees also hints that the child has a “past history” of misbehaving.

“Given the background of this kid, given his refusal to obey order after order, the principal, in my opinion, has the right to remove the kid from the bus,” Lees said on Metronews Talkline Friday.  “If the kid had obeyed all of the orders, they wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Frankly, the video is disturbing, but it’s important to keep in mind that the snippet does not show the totality of the event.  Reasonable adults can disagree whether Moffett’s actions were excessive.

Interestingly, if Moffett had not removed the child and called the police instead, today we would be talking about the police doing essentially the same thing—physically removing the boy from the bus.

The school board can decide whether Moffett should be disciplined (he’s currently under suspension), but slapping Moffett with a felony criminal charge is beyond the pale.  It puts Moffett in the same category as abusive adults who willfully beat up on children, sending them to the hospital with broken bones.

Monday, the magistrate should dismiss the criminal charge, thus letting the Mason County School Board handle the matter administratively.   Allowing the criminal case to proceed to the grand jury will have a chilling effect in every West Virginia school where teachers and administrators struggle daily to keep the peace.





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