Montgomery County News

Caddo superintendent disappointed at lack of action by Mineral Springs Board February 8, 2007 - No reporter cited

Nashville News

The Mineral Springs School Board rejected Superintendent Max Adcock’s recommendation to expel a student who has been accused by Caddo Hills basketball players as the one who held a pellet gun to the back of the neck of a Caddo senior boys basketball player last month.

After five hours of testimony in public, the involvement of three lawyers and 13 witnesses, the school board rejected Adcock’s recommendation to suspend student Jerry White for two semesters by a 3-2 vote.

White’s representation at the student discipline hearing, attorney James Ward of Little Rock, argued that since White had not been charged by police, the school board should not expel his client.
During questioning, Mineral Springs Police Chief Billy Kuykendall would not answer questions pertinent to the ongoing investigation.

Ward presented several witnesses who testified that White’s cousin, an unidentified junior high student at Mineral Springs, was the one who held the pellet pistol to the neck of Caddo Hills player Zachary Powell.

At least three witnesses who testified as such were related to White. The unidentified junior high student was not present at the hearing.

“What’s equally important is who is not here today,” Ward said in his closing statements late Wednesday night. “… We need further information. That has not happened. We can’t do that until [police] get all the facts. We don’t have that.”

Adcock, who was questioned on two separate occasions at the hearing Wednesday night, said he was “100 percent certain” he had the right guy – White – during his first round of questioning.
By the end of the night, during Ward’s questioning, Adcock backtracked.

“I think I have the right person,” Adcock said. “I don’t want to ruin a kid’s life, but I think I have the right person.”

When asked by Ward how certain he was, Adcock said he was 90 percent certain after hearing testimony that night.

“This is not criminal court,” said Sharon Street, representing the Mineral Springs School District during her closing arguments. “Our burden is much lower than that.

“… We never wait until an investigation is 100 percent complete.”

Street told the five board members in attendance that they would only need to be 51 percent certain that White held a pellet pistol to the head of Powell in the doorway of the Caddo Hills locker room in Mineral Springs Jan. 16 to approve Adcock’s two-semester expulsion recommendation.

Students related to White who testified Wednesday provided written statements refuting White’s involvement with the incident and named the unidentified Mineral Springs junior high student as the one who held the pellet pistol to the head of Powell.

At least two witnesses said that White and his cousin – the unidentified junior high student – were similar in stature and height.

“Our boys lied,” said Street, referring to the witnesses who took White’s side. “They lied to their coach. They lied to their superintendent. ... The Caddo Hills boys have not lied to us. Our boys lied. They didn’t step up to the plate.”

Ward asked Adcock if he had followed up with the statements of those different from Caddo Hills players. The superintendent was unclear, however, and said that the investigation is continuing.
Mineral Springs players said that a second incident with the pistol, a .177 caliber Daisy pellet pistol, occurred when someone waved the air-powered pistol through a heater closet door or opening to show that the pistol was not loaded.

A second suspect, Byron Barton, 18, admitted to bringing the pellet pistol to the game and has been charged with a misdemeanor, possession of a handgun. Adcock and Paul Bloom, representing the school board Wednesday, would not discuss any disciplinary actions taken toward Barton by the school, citing privacy issues.

Stacy Vines, Caddo Hills High School principal, testified that four students said White was the one who held the pellet pistol to the head of Powell during the third quarter of the senior girls’ game Jan. 16.
“I felt that was enough,” Vines said in testimony.

Chief of Police Kuykendall said that he was not at liberty to say whether criminal charges had been filed and that the involvement of White had been turned over to juvenile investigations.
Powell said that the person who held the pellet pistol to his neck had a portion of his face covered by a white towel when he was held up and told to, “give me all you got.”

The towel, held to the face of the first person by a second suspect, covered the first person from the mouth down. A third unidentified student was standing near the door. Adcock said they are looking into the involvement of a third student in the prank gone wrong.

Including himself, White admitted that six Mineral Springs students held the pellet pistol when it was passed around the locker room before the incident.

White was told by Adcock after the hearing he could return to school Thursday upon the school board’s rejection of the two-semester expulsion. White was suspended by Adcock through written correspondence Jan. 23. State law prohibits superintendents from suspending students for more than 10 days, Adcock said.

After the hearing and explanation by Bloom of the process to follow the hearing, Jim Kuykendall, school board member, quickly motioned for the rejection of the expulsion. The motion was seconded by Jacque Hale. Dale Gathright Jr. and Mike Erwin, school board president, voted against the rejection. William Dixon approved the rejection along with Jim Kuykendall and Hale.
The meeting adjourned shortly before midnight.

On Feb. 5, Caddo Hills Superintendent of Schools Don Henley in a telephone conversation stated that “The district was disappointed that more action wasn’t taken,” in this incident.

A tentative time of Wednesday afternoon, Fer. 7, at 3:30 has been set to finish the senior boys, according to a Caddo Hills official.

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