Editor’s note: The following photographs were used with the consent of the parents of the minors involved.
A Wayne County principal is facing criticism after posting a photograph of a group of teenagers on social media without parental consent and, according to the teens’ parents, shaming the young men and women for eating together without social distancing.
Brogden Primary School Principal Nicole Barrett posted the following on her personal Facebook page:
She didn’t know a screenshot of the post would be taken and shared with the teenagers’ parents — or that the families of those in the photographs have, in essence, been “quartinteaming” for months.
And she certainly had no way of predicting that the screenshot would later be included in an angry post by the mother of several of the teens — and the self-described “second mother” of the rest.
But that is exactly what happened.
Here is a Facebook response to Barrett posted by Stephanie Collins Cogdell Johnson, who told the New Old North she was outraged that her children were put in the position:
Since the pandemic began, the teenagers have been together for everything from intimate birthday parties and workouts to “family” meals.
Put another way, they are, according to all the parents involved, a unit.
So, for someone to rush to judgment hurt, they said. But the “shaming” is what really set them off.
Sara Nixon, the mother of two of the teenagers in the photograph, didn’t mince words.
“As the mother of two of the children in the picture that was posted without my consent slandering my children for not wearing masks and staying six feet part outside a restaurant away from anyone, I’m upset that someone would take a picture of my children and publicly share it without even knowing their names,” she said. “To speak on educating them about ‘the birds and the bees’ and COVID-19 was so uncalled for. To take a picture of minors and post to social media to shame them is a coward act and a form of bullying.”
Wayne County Public Schools has a social media policy for its employees.
Nixon and Johnson believe the following, at a minimum, were violated by Barrett.
When asked about the incident and how the district was handling the matter, WCPS public information officer Ken Derksen said that “with any concern directed to the district, it will be looked into and handled accordingly.”
She has been ‘removed’ from at least two schools and protected by her friends in high places at least twice. Somehow, she is unethical and comes out smelling like a rose. Nothing will change.
She is an outstanding member of the community! She has been lied on so many times. She is an outstanding principal who works hard for the students and staff in Wayne County. She has moved two schools in a positive direction and has been sent to another school to make a difference. The negative post that I have seen has been uncalled for especially after she has apologized if she offended anyone. She made a mistake by posting a random picture of teenagers but she wanted people to be aware of the 3W’s…Wash your hands…Wait 6 ft…and Wear a Mask. She did not mention any student names. She just made a casual post about safety measures. I have worked with her in the past and she is one of the best administrators in Wayne County and she does not deserve this negative attention. The people who are talking negatively about her does not know her true character!
Maybe you don’t know her true character. The post was bad enough in going against documented policy. But the comment about “the birds and the bees” seems directly pointed at the black boy and the white girl sitting on the truck. Absolutely no excuse for that bigoted and racist comment due to her ignorance of the situation.
That’s my point those two children are 11 years old. She was not concerned
Racist and bigoted huh? What she meant was if your kids know what sex is, then maybe you should teach them to wear a mask. Sure it wasn’t worded the best but the intent is obvious. If parents keep letting their kids do stuff like this then the school year will be rather short.
Maybe I missed it but where was the apology. She took the original post down to post another smart ass come to and then took that down.
She violated 2 employee policies that needs to be addressed.
This is news now? C’mon. We all see the dumb things teenagers do everyday. So what.
In recent comments, Ms. Barrett has talked about what a good job she did at her previous schools. As a parent at Grantham, I NEVER laid eyes on her. I am a stay at home mom. I dropped my kids off at school every day, and volunteered on a regular bases. My daughter came home one day, towards the end of the year, excited. She said, “I finally know what our principal looks like.”
After talking to friends from Spring Creek, it is obvious this is a pattern. I was told she even used deceit to make it look like she was at school when she was not.
Maybe she has health issues, I do not know. I do know there needs to be an investigation on her competency. If she needs help, get it for her. If she is just slacking off and using poor judgement, it is time for tangible repercussions.
At spring creek elementary she was outside helping with kids being dropped off by parents in the morning. I had seen her in the halls of the school many times when I helped out in my daughters classroom. She was present at all award ceremonies. Every time she saw my daughter out and about she made sure to stop and talk to us.
She is not a racist and how people have slandered her name through the mud and it is not right. How do you associate her comment by being racist. They’re teens and she was once a teen and know what go through teens mines as once we’ve ALL been there so to call her racist is a bit of a reach. So let’s not pull the race card out and yes, she didnt have to use the picture but this is a little over board requesting her to be fired. She is human and we all make mistakes. She was my 3rd grade teacher and she was an excellent teacher then and an excellent one now. So when she loses her job then what? What have you really accomplished, nothing the kids were not wearing mask and so she made a comment to reflect that COVID is very much real and want everyone to remain aware. I just think this is being a little extra. Just accept the apology and move on. You all didnt respond like this when the superintendent stole that money which has left the county in a financial strain. Let’s focus on what’s important not the distractions.
ALL I CAN SAY IS , YOU ALL REALLY DONT KNOW HER DO YOU?
We didn’t respond ti the money because it didn’t pertain to us. We are not in the public school system and she didn’t apologize to us she apologized to her Facebook friends which we are not. Its not your kids so dont say whats to much when it doesn’t concern you.
Sounds like the parents,, got a lil embarrassed by being exposed,, letting their teens do what they want,,
I do not know these people, however, I do not see how kids being supervised by two adults and eating dinner quietly in the back of a truck and social distancing from everyone not in their circle is “letting them do what they want”. These kids are not bothering anyone. Did you even read the article?
Embarrassing is not what this waa by. Not wearing a mask when the president does not. Please we wete in public so whats embarrassing? Ahe took pics of minors without permission. I dont have anything to be embarrassed by especially not a damn mask. Try again
They weren’t doing what they want what no ones sees they were eating dinner but as always everyone has so much to say but dont know the story behind the picture. I will never be embarrassed by my parenting skills because they my children i do what i wnat with them.
This is a community where everyone knows each other or they all have mutual friends. I dont personally know the parents but I do know of them. How many times in the past few months have we seen college professors get fired for comments, sports athletes lose sponsors, business professionals get fired … all for sharing their opinions on social media. If it was me and my child I’d be livid to. It doesn’t matter how nice of a person she may or may not be, she as a principal is held to a certain standard and she didnt stick to it. As much as it may suck thats what she signed up for. Maybe for those people that disagree, imagine if it was your child or family member or even the member of a personal friend. Then would your opinion change? Everyone especially kiddos are in need of being around people. We always hear about people depressed and especially now. I personally make it a point to get my child out of the house to see friends. Even if its just to eat a meal with them or stop bye and say hi for a few minutes. These have been a rough few months for everyone on so many different levels. This is completely unacceptable by anyone, especially in her position.
So we missing the point that we are in the middle of a pandemic wear we are asked to wear a mask?She made a statement while explaining the bird and bees make sure you cover the 3Ws.This is not news with all thats going on in the world today this newspaper choose to write this article and make this something that its not.
Her past has nothing to do with this picture or her post cause Iam sure that you all made sure she was held accountable for each and everything thing.The hate in Wayne County is unbelievable.
Looks like you missed the part where the kids were eating. Kind of hard to eat while wearing a mask.
My point simple minded nosey people who need to mind their Business
I would agree… that “principal” was a simple minded nosey person that needed to mind her own business!
Guilty until proven innocent. Know the facts before you speak upon someone especially a child. As a principal you should know this. Shame on you. This should cost you position.
As a former co-worker with this principal when she was a third grade teacher, I witnessed her racist comments more than once. When there were too many complaints on her, the school system would abruptly move her to another school. She was an arrogant person then and now! Be fair and reprimmand her based on her breaking WCPS employee policies not on her being kin to other WCPS school leaders.
So y’all just gonna keep pulling the race card huh??? But did y’all do all of this when that superintendent stole millions of money from the Wayne County and schools since were speaking on past events. That’s the problem with social media, y’all be quick to slander anyone’s name because if the shoe was on the other foot would any of you want to be fired or apology accepted. Y’all hate to see a black woman in power huh is that the problem??? If she’s fired would that make y’all feel better will y’all sleep better at night knowing that you’re taking away from the mouths she has to feed. But no one cares about that. Y’all just being extra.
Clearly you didn’t read all those articles about the former superintendent. Nor did you read all the comments on those articles condemning him. Too bad your former teacher; Ms. Barrett didn’t teach you to research first before making ignorant statements.
Correct, this shouldn’t be a racial issue. Mrs. Barrett should lose her job because she is incompetent, not because someone twists this into a racist comment. Her track record of failure and destruction speaks for itself. The fact that she is an AKA shouldn’t protect her from the repercussions of her dismal performance in a job she’s clearly not qualified for. WCPS will continue to struggle as long as they allow the good ole boys and the sorority sisters to cover up for each other. Too bad it’s our kids who have to pay the price.
Who pulled the race card? Im black. Im mad about my kids on fb by a complete stranger. Speak to the race baiters. You just bring extra by missing the damn point. Dis anyone in thw art2say anything about race? if it was vice versa and she was white since you want to talk about race it would be all kinds of protest to have her fired.
This is not about race, it’s about violating policy. That’s All.
That’s thw entire point ahe didn’t mention the children’s names because she did not know their names. Its ok to be an advocate for the 3 W’s but to post a picture of random children asking who Chil’ren are these? What does it matter who’s children they are if tou are Concerned about all children? The Birds and the Bees comment. What was the point of that. When you are trying to help someone it’s non effective if the person doesn’t know you are trying to help. If she was so concerned enough to take a picture and post it to social media not knowing if it would put any of the children in danger. Why couldn’t she be concerned enough to approach the parents who were present? I have the answer. She didn’t approach them because she was posting to be funny and to get a response. She asked who’s children they were to the world instead of asking the adults who were present. So she really didn’t care who’s Chil’ren they were ( what is Chil’ren? I have Children not Chil’ren) just because you had a positive experience with her doesn’t mean every has . The post is plain and clear she did it. Its time for EQUALITY FROM EVERYONE. Because if she was a Caucasian Principal there would have been protest and facebook pages demanding her job. Its against WCPS Employee policy to post pictures of children to your face book page. Sad thing is everyone talking about the apology she posted. It does no good when the people who you wronged cant see the apology. She posted the apology to cover her self . If everyone who has judgement to pass about the uproar take the time to read the comments and see that the mothers of the children don’t know Ms. Barrett and have not spoken on anything about her except for the situation with their kids. We can’t be held accountable for other people voicing their concerns or injustices with their dealings with Ms. Barrett. Take a moment and walk in our shoes and have a Complete Stranger take a picture of your children without your knowledge and post it to Social Media shaming your kids for not wearing a mask outside away from everyone. Be accountable and speak on whats right no matter what their normal character is. Everyone is human and make mistakes. I just want an apology. I don’t want her job.
Ms. Nixon, I was on your side from the time my daughter sent me the post the next morning. It took a few minutes for it to register who she was, I was so shocked. After everything registered, I called my daughter and said ‘she is protected’ and started listing her past issues.
That has nothing to do with what she did to your kids. It just means you will not get justice.
I am so sorry!!!! When you said two of the kids.were 11, I almost cried. in my experience 11 year olds physically look like teens, but, are emotionally children. Even suggesting children that age are are sexually is sick.
I promise you, most, except her sisters, agree with you. Hug your children and tell them we are so sorry they have had to deal with this.
Embarrassing is not what this waa by. Not wearing a mask when the president does not. Please we wete in public so whats embarrassing? Ahe took pics of minors without permission. I dont have anything to be embarrassed by especially not a damn mask. Try again
To all those defending this . Wait until its your child
AKA will make sure she is able to keep her job! This isn’t the first thing that she has done that she should have been fired for! The NON should investigate the AKA and family roots that run throughout Wayne County Schools.
This is the Board policy that was violated:
Policy Code: 7335 Employee Use of Social Media
D. POSTING TO SOCIAL MEDIA SITES
Employees who use social media for personal purposes must be aware that the content they post may be viewed by anyone, including students, parents and community members. Employees shall observe the following principles when communicating through social media.
5. Employees shall be professional in all Internet postings related to or referencing the school system, students or their parents, and other employees.
8. Employees shall not post identifiable images of a student or student’s family on a personal social media site Employees may post such images on a school-controlled social media site only with prior permission of the employee’s supervisor and in accordance with the requirements of federal and state privacy laws and policy 4700, Student Records.