School board discusses in-school suspension following verbal altercation allegations against Aiken High cheerleaders
Feb. 17—Several parents and students with the Aiken High School cheerleading squad spoke to the Aiken County Board of Education on Feb. 14 about an alleged verbal altercation allegation between the cheerleaders from Aiken High and Silver Bluff following a basketball game earlier this month.
Aiken High varsity cheerleader Jordyn Mobley described herself to the board as a respectful, "well-mannered young lady" who is an all A honor-roll student.
"My school record is clean and my first and only write up is coming from a cheer battle, where nobody was disrespected and no one was touched," Mobley said. "Why can't anyone tell me what I said during the verbal altercation? That is the big question. For the past two days I have spent all day in in-school suspension, unsure of why I had to be there."
Mobley was one of three cheerleaders from the squad serving in-school suspension who were seeking an explanation as to why they were suspended .
"We have been doing the same thing all season at every single game and not only us, but against every other team in Aiken County," Aiken High varsity cheerleader Karliyah Marshall said. "When I look at my referral, it says verbal altercation. That's all it says. If I was in a verbal altercation, that means I had to say something that was inappropriate to someone."
Aiken Highvprincipal Alisa Hamrick did not respond to a request for comment before this story's publication deadline.
Parents and cheerleaders from Aiken High and Silver Bluff High School also spoke in opposition of the punishment and in support of the student athletes.
"I can vouch that there was no verbal altercation. They never came in our faces, never said anything out of the way to make us feel disrespected ... it's not fair because they (the student section) get away with it and they (the cheer squad) get punished," Silver Bluff cheerleading captain Taylor Smith said. "My heart goes out to y'all because you don't feel no way towards us, we feel no way towards y'all. It's all love at the end of the day."
One parent suggested it was a missed opportunity.
"My issue with the situation is maybe if it was a safety problem and they felt like something was going to happen, let's have a teaching moment. Let's sit down and talk to our girls and our coaches," parent Miraim Zeidan said. "This is an example of over-policing our children and the principal missed a moment to relate to the students, and it could have been a teaching moment for everyone."
Several school board members spoke out after the public comment portion.
"We as board members are not supposed to respond after public participation but I could not not say something," school board representative Dr. Patricia Hanks said. "The emotion in this room bothers me."
"Do not allow what people say to you to bother you. You know that you are better than and you know who you are. Thank you for being able to come to us and express how you feel and stand up for what you believe," school board representative Patrice Rhinehart-Jackson said. "You were heard tonight."
"We typically don't hear ISS or even athletic issues like this, but when you come in and give testimony like that, it did not fall on deaf ears and we will take everything under advisement," Dr. Corey Murphy, chief officer of operations and student services, said.
A follow-up was requested by several board members.
