Do Parents Have Any Idea What's Going on at McBride Elementary?

McBride Elementary is part of the Muscle Shoals school system. It educates only the third, fourth, and fifth grade students in the system. In early November of this year, a fourth grade teacher was suspended for inappropriate behavior. While we had been given his name some time ago, it had not been released publicly until yesterday. Now a Facebook page calling itself #TeamJarmon has named the teacher as Blake E. Jarmon.

Jarmon began his career at Hibbett Middle School teaching math before moving to the Muscle Shoals system. While at Muscle Shoals he was once named Teacher of the Year. Now he's been suspended for allegedly inflicting harm on his students. Guilty or innocent of the charges, we don't know. Here's what we do know, and it's all about McBride.

* The day after Blake Jarmon was suspended a spokeswoman lied to a reporter about the suspension.

* Supt. Brian Lindsey has told the public that it's not a police matter. The alleged physical harm of students isn't a police matter?

* Jarmon has definitely lawyered up and Lindsey has reportedly attempted to negotiate against the advice of the school board's attorney.

* Jarmon isn't the only employee of McBride to have come under scrutiny in the past two months. Many parents have contacted us about the rumors; however, we've not been able to verify them. If true, what should have been a simple reprimand/short suspension situation has become a total cover-up, and parents have a right to be upset.

Now Muscle Shoals has a school divided. Many of the parents defend Jarmon, even initiating a FB page in his support, while others want him gone and a police investigation underway. If Lindsey and Jarmon have nothing to hide, why not allow an outside agent to interview the children? The longer this situation goes on, the more entrenched the rumors become.

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