Board Members Superintendent Maurice Hill, Chairman Charles G. Wilson, CPA, MBA Mike Herndon, Vice Chairman Bulloch County Schools Cheri Wagner 150 Williams Road, Suite A Dr. LeVon Wilson Statesboro, GA 30458 Steve Hein 912.212.8500 Anshul Jain www.bulloch.k12.ga.us Mike Sparks Vernon Littles

May 1, 2014

Dear Parents, Students and Employees, We are very saddened and disappointed to learn about the alleged misconduct and arrest of two, first-year Statesboro High School paraprofessionals. The safety of our students and the trust of our community are of the highest importance to us. Therefore, Bulloch County Schools and Statesboro High School have cooperated and reported all information regarding these cases to local law enforcement, the Department of Family and Children’s Services, and relevant state education agencies. The Statesboro Police Department is currently conducting an ongoing investigation. We encourage anyone with information relevant to this investigation to contact the police at 764-9911 or by anonymous tips at www.tipsoft.com or by texting “TIPSSPD” to 274637. Bulloch County Schools has zero-tolerance for employee misconduct of any kind or any abuse of our students. As a result, both men were immediately removed from contact with Statesboro High students. They no longer serve in their assistant coaching positions, and they are no longer employed by the school system. Bulloch County Schools performs extensive state and federal background checks on all employees before they are hired. Based on the background checks we conducted on these employees, neither had prior records that raised concerns or would have prevented them from being hired by any school system in any state. As a parent and as the superintendent of schools, I want to assure you that we are committed to caring for our students at all of our schools. In response to this incident, we are responding in several ways across the district. The first, as mentioned above, is to continue cooperating with law enforcement to the fullest extent. This matter is under the jurisdiction of the Statesboro Police Department, and we want to support their investigation to ensure the safety of all students. The second is to provide access to any counseling support that our students or employees may need. We have five school psychologists assigned to multiple schools and 22 on-site school counselors. Part of their services are to offer counseling, crisis intervention services and crisis response counseling in the event of traumatic incidents. Please visit our website for a list of these personnel or contact your school if you want to set up an appointment with one of our school psycologists or counselors. The third will be to assess all of the facts and other information that result from law enforcement and school system efforts so that we can look internally and determine what we can improve to make our schools a better place for our students and community. Please join me in assuring everyone that it is always okay to step forward and tell the truth about what they may know. We want all of our schools to be safe and nurturing environments for our children. Thank you for your continued support of Statesboro High School and Bulloch County Schools. Sincerely, Charles G. Wilson, Jr. Superintendent

Each school has on-site counselors. You may also contact a school psychologist. List of School Psychologists Mary Beth Hodgin, Ed.S. Southeast Bulloch High School Mill Creek Elementary School William James Middle School (912) 536-6432 Lisa Hayostek, Ed.S. Southeast Bulloch Middle School Nevils Elementary School Stilson Elementary School Brooklet Elementary School (912) 212-8605 Jan Bowen, Ed.S. Mattie Lively Elementary Statesboro High School (912) 536-0410 Jeanne Smith, Ed.S. Julia P. Bryant Elementary Portal Elementary School Portal Middle/High School Transitions Learning Center (912) 536-6365 Dr. Bruce Rogers, Ed. D., NCSP Langston Chapel Elementary School Langston Chapel Middle School Sallie Zetterower Elementary (912) 212-8606