The mother of a fifth-grader at East Elementary School has filed a criminal complaint against a teacher who she says fractured her daughter’s arm.
Veronica Lockett said her 10-year-old daughter, Jessica Lockett, was injured when Xavier Black, a fifth-grade reading strategy teacher, grabbed her by the left arm on Aug. 27.
Jessica told the Commonwealth on Friday that the incident started when she told Black that he had misspelled her name on the chalkboard.
She said Black told her to sit in the classroom’s “hot chair” as punishment for talking out of turn. “I started crying. He jerked my arm,” she said.
Viola Williams McCaskill, superintendent of the Leflore County School District, said in a written statement released Friday that the incident is still under investigation. In the statement, the superintendent described Black as an “exemplary teacher.”
Black could not be reached for comment Saturday.
Lockett said the medical reports that she provided the district, from two doctors, both confirmed that Jessica has a fracture in her left arm. McCaskill said the same reports show the arm was not broken.
Veronica Lockett said she first found out about the incident on the afternoon of Aug. 27, when she went to pick her daughter up at the bus stop. Other students told her Jessica had been hurt at school.
“I’m looking at my daughter, and her head is held down,” Lockett said. “I said, ‘Tell me.’”
Jessica told her mother that Black had grabbed her.
Lockett and Jessica’s father, Jessie Walker, went to the school that day to talk with Principal Jackie Lewis. Black was signing out for the day and was attempting to leave the school, but Lewis told him to come to her office, Lockett said.
Lockett said she told Black that she and Walker wanted to know what was going on with their child. She said Black promised never to touch Jessica again.
Days after the incident, Jessica’s arm was visibly bruised, and she complained that it hurt, so Lockett took her to the doctor. X-rays indicated there was a fracture, and a second visit to a surgeon confirmed that the arm was broken, she said.
On Sept. 14, Lockett went to the Leflore County Sheriff’s Department to sign an affidavit against Black.
Ken Spencer, the department’s chief investigator, took the report and interviewed Jessica, she said.
Lockett said Spencer told her that Black would likely be charged with assault.
Lockett said she also talked with McCaskill about the incident. “She said, ‘We can’t get rid of him because we haven’t got a teacher to fill his spot,’” Lockett said.
Jessica’s left arm is in a sling, and she is taking medication for pain, her mother said.
The child is also fearful of Black. Since the incident, Black has been moved from the reading strategy position to a reading teacher position, and her daughter must be in his class every day, she said.
Lockett said she held her daughter out of school for a time while trying to resolve the problem. Last week, Jessica went back to school because Black was out for the full week.
- Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@
gwcommonwealth.com.
