New Bern High School

HOME OF SCHOLARS AND CHAMPIONS!

October 15, 2023

Greetings, Bears Supporters. This is Jerry Simmons, retired principal of New Bern
High School and now a concerned citizen of our great town and county. I am
addressing this as a response to those who continue to believe in New Bern High
School. This is in no way an attempt to redeem my personal/professional image.
Those who believed in me and still do have reminded me that redemption is not
necessary. Their support over the last 5.5 months has been everything. I would
like to thank the good people of The Epiphany School of Global Studies for their
confidence in me as a person and as an educator. My prayers continue for Mrs.
Heidi Ricks and the Bears of New Bern High School. Keep your faith and always
focus on kids.

I am including two enclosures. First, the summary of investigation from Craven

County Schools Human Resources Department (emailed to me on 10/12/23). This
is why I am now choosing to speak on the topic. I am also including a recap of
incidents that I have experienced over the last 3 years in Craven County (having
received no reprimands during the first 25 years of my 28-year educational career
or my 20-year military career). I provide these additional incidents as context to
frame the current goings-on. My goal here is to avoid any speculation and stick to
the facts.

My hope is that the community I have come to love will do the following:
1. Contact our state legislators and ask that they do a thorough review of the
decision by the North Carolina High School Athletics Association (Commissioner
Tucker and the NCHSAA Board have not contacted me regarding this matter so
any investigation they have done is at best incomplete). Our General Assembly
has the power to undo the action of the NCHSAA and restore the 2022 4A
championship to the rightful winner.
2. Contact our Craven County Board of Commissioners and ask that they review
the practices of our school district’s leadership and Board of Education. I was
called in and asked to answer questions for this investigation a month after being
suspended. I let them know that if they were interested in the truth, I would have
been interviewed when they first received a complaint. I could have saved them

4200 Academic Drive ~ New Bern, NC 28562 ~ 252-514-6400 ~ cravenk12.org/NBHS

 New Bern High School
HOME OF SCHOLARS AND CHAMPIONS!

time and money because I was not looking to hide any of my decisions.
3. Continue to support our school community and show your Bears Spirit at every
turn.

I will allow you the opportunity to review the included summary of investigation
and draw your own conclusions. Regarding the examples included in these
findings, I will provide the following points:
- North Carolina General Statute 115C-288 authorizes that principals have the
power to grade and classify students. While making these decisions, principals
“shall consider the pupil’s classroom work and grades, the pupil’s scores on
standardized tests, and the best educational interests of the pupil.” I wish I could
tell you that every student learns at the same rate and has the same supports in
place. Unfortunately, that is not our reality. In fact, most agree that the gaps that
existed between our communities were widened during the pandemic. Speaking
frankly, I do not know a school administrator (elementary, middle or high school)
who does not use this power. So I have exercised this power in situations where I
could circumstances called for it. However, the accusation that sports was ever
one of the considerations is false.
- I stand by all decisions I have made while serving as the principal of New Bern
High School. In that role, I reviewed students’ grades at the close of each quarter
and semester. In some instances, I found that there were teachers with 60-70% of
their students failing. In those cases, I would adjust the grades of students in those
sections and ask the assistant principals to work with these teachers to ensure we
are attempting different strategies to help more students find success.
- In other situations, individual students would exhibit performance that was
subpar and inconsistent with how he or she traditionally performed. When this
happened, the counselor and I would sit with the student and establish a contract in
which the student could demonstrate their mastery of a subject by performing well
in the subsequent course. Other times, we would use a self-paced credit recovery
course for the student to show their understanding. There were also times when
students were asked to complete additional assignments after the close of the term.
When these approaches were used, students would keep their failing grade or
receive an Incomplete until the agreed upon work was completed. The summary
of the investigation highlights one student with 11 changes. Without having those
documents in front of me, I am not able to provide specifics. This could be a result

4200 Academic Drive ~ New Bern, NC 28562 ~ 252-514-6400 ~ cravenk12.org/NBHS

 New Bern High School
HOME OF SCHOLARS AND CHAMPIONS!

of a combination of things shown above (e.g. student enrolled in a course with a

high number of failures at quarters and/or the semester so the student was part of
changes made for a group; student showed success in a subsequent course, credit
recovery, or makeup work and changes were based on these factors; …). I can say
that I believed these changes were warranted.
- As for attendance, we issue forced failures (FFs) at the end of the grading period
for students who passed a course but exceeded the allowed number of unexcused
absences in a term. A student receiving an FF was given an opportunity to make
up time in summer school or placed on an attendance contract for the following
semester (student shows satisfactory attendance in the following semester and at
the end of that semester the FF is replaced by the passing score that the student
received). With me not permitted on campus as New Bern High closed out the
spring semester, FFs were not issued to students. I do commend the coaches who
encouraged their student-athletes to attend summer school if they were in violation
of the attendance policy. My understanding is those summer school records were
not considered this time although this practice was honored in the past.

Serving as the leader of a diverse school like New Bern High School requires one
to assemble a team of educators who are willing to build relationships with
students and parents that will motivate families to see beyond their current
circumstances and break cycles for future generations. I used the power of my
position to ensure students had equitable opportunities to finish high school and
pursue their postsecondary aspirations. At no times has a student’s participation in
athletics been a consideration when reviewing grades. The fact that a student plays
a sport is very commendable but certainly not grounds for special treatment.
However, participation in sports should not bar a student-athlete from the same
chances and grace being afforded other students.

Thank you for continued support and Go Bears!

4200 Academic Drive ~ New Bern, NC 28562 ~ 252-514-6400 ~ cravenk12.org/NBHS