Daughter pulled from school after rude comments from teacher
GUTHRIE, Okla (KFOR) — A 13-year-old student is no longer enrolled at Guthrie Upper Elementary after she said her math teacher was bullying her.
Preslea Socash told News 4 she was asking her teacher a question about a math problem. She ended up recording his response after she said she had other problems with the teacher earlier this school year.
On the recording you can hear her teacher, Jeff McKinley, say, "you are an evil, conniving little girl...now you can go home and cry to your mama I don't care. You can smile and laugh and think it's all funny because yea you are getting me worked up, so you are winning a little bit, that's okay, but in the long run, I'm gonna be all right, you're not."
That's just part of the interaction between Preslea and her teacher, after Preslea said she was asking for clarification on a math problem earlier this month.
"I came home and I was crying to my mom. I didn't understand what I did to deserve a teacher like him. It was really upsetting to me that I had to go through that in front of the whole class, getting embarrassed, calling me a cry baby," said Preslea Socash, the 13-year-old student.
Back in September, a substitute teacher at Guthrie Upper Elementary reported another issue to the Principal about McKinley. She spoke with News 4 Wednesday night.
"I had a whole notebook paper, front and back. I reported it through email to the Principal, Mr. Ball. He responded within the hour and said thank you for the information, I'll take care of it, but obviously nothing happened," said Jesse Parmer.
Preslea's mom met with Principal Jeff Ball about the comments made to her daughter.
"My whole mission was to let him know what was going on, thinking that he would stand behind me, and he didn't. He basically threw it on her by saying she shouldn't have had a recording device," said Searra Socash, Preslea's mother.
The Principal then emailed Searra and told her he will do a full investigation. The email also said the school switched Preslea's teachers so she wouldn't be in Mckinley's class.
Though Preslea's mom said that's not enough.
"That's when I said I'm pulling her out, because I'm not gonna allow my daughter to go to any school that they allow bullying teachers," said Socash.
News 4 reached out to the Superintendent of Guthrie schools for comment, his assistant said he is out for the rest of the week and there was no one else who could talk about the situation.
We also reached out to Principal Ball at Guthrie Upper Elementary. His office said he was also gone for the day.