NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A retired Newport News school administrator said during her time with the district, there was no support for teachers being assaulted daily.
Julianne Marse has been an educator for 32 years. She spent 11 of those years as an assistant principal with Newport News Public Schools.
Monday, Marse told News 3 she’s not only seen the violence firsthand but experienced it herself as an administrator with some students who were only in kindergarten.
“I was kicked, spit on hit, hair pulled, bruises on me when I would come home,” said Marse.
In letters released to News 3 last week, Marse wrote to the school board calling out the administration’s lack of leadership.
She sent the email just three days after police said a 6-year-old boy shot his first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner.
Marse writes that she told then-Superintendent Dr. George Parker III in 2019 that "students were out of control, schools were not safe, and no support was being given to teachers and administrators who were being assaulted daily by students as I was.”
Marse said the school system is broken and because of all the deep-rooted issues, she retired.
“I retired in December of 2019 because I was being assaulted daily by a six-year-old,” she said.
For more than a decade, Marse was in charge of discipline in her buildings as an assistant principal at two elementary schools in the district. In her time with the district, she said school leaders were not doing enough, including not reporting when students made threats or violently misbehaved. Marse said it is state law to report those issues.
“When an administrator is concerned about a student becoming violent, the administrator is supposed to complete what's called a threat assessment on that student,” she said. “I can say with complete and utter conviction that that's not happening in most Newport News Public Schools.”
Marse said a threat assessment committee in the school is supposed to come up with a plan on how to intervene and help the child. She told News 3, however, she’s witnessed disciplinary issues essentially being swept under the rug so that it doesn’t affect the school’s accreditation status.
Marse said many schools weren’t following the threat assessment protocol during her tenure and believes many still aren’t.
“I reached out for help for to my superiors and basically the message is just deal with it,” she said. “That is the same exact thing that happened with Abby in her classroom.”
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In a statement, Newport News Public Schools Spokesperson Michelle Price said the school district does have guidelines for what would require a threat assessment, which includes bullying, stalking and threatening behavior.
She would not comment on if a threat assessment has been done recently saying they can’t comment on the ongoing investigation.
“As stated in the Newport News Public Schools Rights and Responsibilities Handbook, there are several behaviors which would require a threat assessment these include bullying behavior, stalking, possessing dangerous instruments/substances, threating, etc., among others,” Price said. “I cannot comment on the ongoing investigation.”
