School Officials Deny Strip-Search Allegations over Marker Vandalism

The Banks County Sheriff's Office is investigating allegations stemming from graphic magic marker graffiti found at the elementary school.Photo byJerry Neace/NowHabersham.com

Vandalism has been a problem at Banks County Elementary School. According to school administrators, graphic depictions of vulgar acts have been sighted on bathroom walls, art tables, and the gym floor. They say custodians have been covering the drawings to prevent students from seeing them and painting over what they can. Permanent markers were used.

Social media post

A Facebook post on a Banks County community page elicited close to 300 comments about an accusation of a strip search of a student at Banks County Elementary School in search of permanent markers.

The mother of the student, Jennifer Atwood, posted the question, “I want to know who else’s child was improperly searched yesterday at Banks County Elementary for permanent markers?”

Atwood responded to several of the comments indicating, “She (daughter) was taken to the principal office and asked twice to take her shirt off after she said ‘no’ both times the principal removed my child’s shirt not asking her one question if she had under clothes or anything else on and removed her shirt herself from my child’s body…”

Now Habersham reached out to Atwood. She said, “I stand by my daughter’s story. I am speaking with the investigator from Banks County Sheriff’s Office.”

School system’s response

Addressing the disturbing accusations, the Banks County School System posted a statement to its Facebook page responding to what it claims are “false social media claims.”

The school system says that on Wednesday, April 24th, school officials asked individual elementary students to empty their pockets in an effort to find the marker used to vandalize the gym floor. The school system says no student was strip-searched or asked to remove or lift any article of clothing.

“There is no truth to this allegation,” Banks County School Superintendent Dr. Ann Hopkins tells Now Habersham. “We have asked for a sheriff’s investigation because of the seriousness of the accusation.”

Hopkins says the school system stands by Banks County Elementary School Principal Leigh Ann Perry.

Law enforcement statement

The Banks County Sheriff is investigating the matter. Early Friday afternoon, after the initial publication of this article, the sheriff's office released the following statement: "Friday morning, Banks County Sheriff’s Office was requested by the Banks County Board of Education to investigate social media allegations that stemmed from an incident that occurred on the grounds of Banks County Elementary School," the sheriff's office says. The statement continues, "As the investigation has started and continued throughout the day, Banks County Sheriff's Office has not received any formal complaints or reports from parents and/or guardians."

Now Habersham has requested information regarding the sheriff's office investigation and will update this article as new details are released.