Principal Resigns Over School Drug Raid

AP ^ | January 5, 2004

[The Game Hen]

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. - A high school principal announced his resignation Monday after coming under fire over a November drug sweep in which police with guns drawn ordered students to the floor.

"I realized it is in the best interest of Stratford High School and of my students for me to make a change," George McCrackin said in a statement.

School officials asked Goose Creek police to come into the school Nov. 5 after receiving reports of marijuana sales on campus. Police said dogs sniffed drug residue on 12 book bags but found no drugs. No one was arrested.

The raid led to allegations of excessive force and racism, because many of the students were black.

District Superintendent J. Chester Floyd said McCrackin will be reassigned to a still-undetermined position. But he said McCrackin will probably spend the coming weeks preparing for two lawsuits filed by students over the incident.

[Wolfie]

Do you deny that this angle has drawn headlines?

[Orangedog]

Funny, I never had someone with a badge try to sell me drugs. You got a point?

If you believe having a loaded gun leveled at your head is better than having someone offer to sell you drugs, then I don't think you could get the point.

[Wolfie]

Heh...Can't remember the last time I went out of my way to have someone point a gun at my head. Ha!

[robertpaulsen]

"Do you deny that this angle has drawn headlines?"

I do not deny that. And I do not believe that it's true.

But you do?

[robertpaulsen]

"If you believe having a loaded gun leveled at your head is better than having someone offer to sell you drugs"

I never even made that comparison, much less said that one was "better" than the other.

Stop putting words in my mouth. You have something to say, say it.

[Wolfie]

Beats me. I do know I predicted the principal's departure upon learning of this angle.

[Orangedog]

Stop putting words in my mouth. You have something to say, say it.

I've been saying it. And no one is putting words in your mouth.

[Alter Kaker]

What do your "founders" mean to me?

[robertpaulsen]

Very good, Carnak.

Actually, I thought the principal had more support from the student body and the parents than he obviously did.

Too bad. I heard he was an otherwise good principal. I'd love to hear how the drug situation at the school unfolds over the next year or so. But it'll never be reported.

Seen any follow-up stories on the drug situation in Tulia? I rest my case.

[headsonpikes]

BTW, a child loses his innocence when ...

A child loses his innocence when he submits to the maggots and faggots running America's public schools and so-called 'justice' system.

Firing this principal's *ss is a start! ;^)

[Wolfie]

So, now you're claiming Tulia as a victory?

[Wolfie]

Hey! Name the movie:

"Childhood's over in the minute you know you're gonna die".

[robertpaulsen]

"So, now you're claiming Tulia as a victory?"

No. Not at all. I'm just saying that the press is done with Tulia -- they've moved on. AFAIK, drugs are rampant once again.

But drug use is not the story -- in Tulia or in Goose Creek. Trying to stop it is.

A year from now ... two years from now, drugs could be rampant at Goose Creek and we'll never see the story.

[headsonpikes]

Don't know the movie.

We have reached 'Childhood's End', perhaps.

;^)

[eno_]

Well, which is better? Cops raiding schools with guns drawn or the possibility that kids will smoke dope? For extra credit, which is less bad: Kids smoking a joint, or drinking a bottle of Boone's Farm?

[Eris]

This is just more nonsense from you, and you seem to post a lot of it.

1) Yes, I say there was no drug dealing going on in the halls, what with the ABSENCE OF ANY DRUGS.

2) You clearly haven't seen the video where the thugs charged in through the hall with guns already drawn and poor trigger discipline. Guns were clear of leather before the opened the door.

I can only conclude by the inanity of your posts that you are trolling - showing the absurdity of the pro-War on Drugs position by taking such a parody stance.

If my conclusion is wrong... well, you have my condolences.

[robertpaulsen]

"Yes, I say there was no drug dealing going on in the halls,"

Right. They were trading baseball cards.

"poor trigger discipline"

Where did you read that? I haven't seen that claim anywhere in the news.

[Gianni]

What- they don't have a soccer team????

Must not play rugby in SC either.

[The Game Hen]

Update:

Wednesday, January 7, 2004

Reaction mixed on principal's departure

McCrackin awaits decision on future

BY SEANNA ADCOX AND ALLISON L. BRUCE
Of The Post and Courier Staff

When Pam Wieters went into labor 18 years ago as she taught at Stratford High School, it was Principal George McCrackin who rolled her out of the school in a wheelchair, put her in his pickup and sped to Roper Hospital.

She thought it only fitting that McCrackin hand her son, now a Stratford senior, his diploma this spring.

But those hopes ended Monday when Superintendent Chester Floyd announced that McCrackin -- Stratford's principal since the school opened in 1983 -- chose to step down amid mounting pressures over the controversial drug raid at the school 60 days earlier.

"There is a sadness over his leaving that has nothing to do with his replacement. I have admired and respected him," said Wieters, who still teaches English at Stratford. "There is a grieving process when you lose someone unexpectedly."

On Tuesday, the marquee in front of the school read: "Stratford thanks George McCrackin for 20 years of outstanding leadership and welcomes Mrs. Brevard."

Mildred Brevard was named interim principal Monday.

On Tuesday night, Kenneth Johnson with Goose Creek Concerned Citizens came to the Berkeley County School Board meeting to ask that teachers not target students over McCrackin's reassignment.

Parent LaTise Simpson said she felt students involved in lawsuits concerning the raid were being singled out by teachers. Her son is one of 20 students involved in an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit filed last month.

Now that the new principal is offering counseling for students, Simpson asked that teachers also receive counseling on how to deal with the situation.

McCrackin has not spoken publicly about the search since shortly after surveillance images of the raid attracted national attention

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People called for his removal.

Several of the 14 Goose Creek police officers who rushed into Stratford's main hallway at about 6:45 a.m. Nov. 5 had guns drawn. Students were ordered to the floor, and officers put plastic restraints on about a dozen of the 107 students, while a barking police dog sniffed their backpacks. Officers found no drugs and made no arrests.

Floyd said McCrackin decided Saturday that it was in the school's best interest for him to make a change. Until school officials determine his new post, McCrackin will work on preparing for two federal lawsuits stemming from the raid. He will keep his $83,001 salary.

Denyse Williams, executive director of the ACLU's South Carolina chapter, said McCrackin's reassignment will not affect its lawsuit.

"We're not surprised the community took care of it. When he finally realized what was going on (in the raid), he made no efforts to stop it or minimize police conduct," she said.

On Tuesday, discussion in the community turned from the raid itself to whether McCrackin should have stepped down.

Carol Dunlap said she was sorry to see him go. "He's done a wonderful job at the school," she said. As a grandmother, Dunlap said she likes "a nice strong disciplinarian at a school."

Her grandson, a senior at Stratford, disagreed.

"He made a lot of mistakes recently," said Randy Harville. "It was right for him to step down, for him and the school."

Joseph White's son attends Stratford. Though White said McCrackin had to consider what was best for his career, White said he shouldn't have stepped down because of the drug raid.

"I don't think he could have predicted the outcome of what took place," he said.

Steve Vaughn, owner of Vaughn Homes and property adjacent to the school, called McCrackin's reassignment a "terrible mistake."

"George is that school. I think he's being railroaded," said Vaughn, whose son is a senior at Stratford. "I've seen him in action. He brings kids in who are in trouble, sits them down and straightens them out. He's a tough parent to 3,000 kids."

With about 2,700 students, Stratford is one of the state's largest schools and has been cited over the years for student achievement.

"No parent likes to see what we saw on TV, but how do you blame the principal on that, for calling the police?" Vaughn asked. "I certainly don't believe he told them to pull those guns out."

State Rep. Shirley Hinson of Goose Creek, who attended a support rally Nov. 14 organized by teachers, predicts a backlash over his reassignment.

"He's a scapegoat. Somebody had to go, and it happened to be George McCrackin, the one man who's not afraid to do his job," she said.

"He gets things done. It may not be in the most orthodox way, but he gets results," said Hinson, a former Berkeley County School Board member whose son graduated from Stratford.

Board Chairwoman Harriet Dangerfield said she was "not aware of any pressure" put on McCrackin to step down.

"He did what was good for him and good for Stratford. He would be handcuffed and second-guessed any time a problem would come up," she said. "In view of all that's ahead of us, I think George could use some breathing room."

Dangerfield said she didn't know what job McCrackin would eventually hold, though it wouldn't be in another school because those positions are taken.


"He has a lot of value to the district. We can find places for him," she said.

[Eris]

1) Then if they were dealing drugs, smart guy, why couldn't the jack-booted thugs find any?

2) I don't need to read it - I have eyes and could see fingers resting on triggers. Do you know the first thing about proper gun use?