Alleged Safety Concerns from Former Staff Member

Morganton, NC – Aug. 19, 2025
The Burke County Board of Education is aware of an article recently published regarding a lawsuit filed against the district by a
former employee alleging that she was terminated due to raising safety concerns at Drexel Elementary School.

We, the members of the School Board, would like to clarify some inaccuracies and misrepresentations asserted by the former
employee in this article and in her related lawsuit. Pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 115C-321(b), the Board may share information
regarding the termination and the personnel file of an individual if doing so is essential to maintaining the integrity of the
Board. Due to the allegations raised concerning the ability to maintain the safety of students in the Burke County Public
Schools, it is essential that the information contained herein be shared.

The former employee assigned to work at Drexel Elementary alleges that she was terminated in retaliation for raising safety
concerns regarding another custodian’s behavior. This is not accurate information. Rather, she wrote a message complaining
about a coworker’s performance and mentioned in passing that the coworker’s boyfriend and occasionally her children would
come to the school building during work hours. At no point did she indicate that this was a safety or security problem. Simply
put, these were family members of the coworker and thus her complaint did not involve a “safety concern.”

In another incident, the employee notified the principal of a car in front of the school outside of school operating hours. The
principal informed the employee that she had contacted law enforcement about this. In turn, law enforcement responded to the
school that evening to address the concern. Again, this was not a “safety concern” related to the running of Drexel Elementary
by the principal and other school staff.

As stated by Burke County Public Schools previously regarding the recent arrest related to Drexel Elementary, at no point prior
to the arrest of the suspect were the Burke County Schools made aware of any potential threat at the school. This is because law
enforcement had the suspect under surveillance for an extended period prior to his arrest and understandably did not want to
compromise their investigation. No information was provided to the Burke County Schools until after the suspect was arrested.
To the point, this employee did not raise any concern that would in any way relate to the recent arrest of an individual by the
Drexel Police Department. In fact, the former employee was terminated due to insubordination. “Safety concerns” were never
mentioned by the employee until she filed her lawsuit and began speaking with the media.

The Burke County Board of Education and all our employees take the safety and security of students we serve very seriously.
Please know that we will continue to work closely with law enforcement and follow the security and safety protocols already in
place to ensure the safety of our community.