The hitting incident happened on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, in a South Lenoir High School classroom.
In the surfaced video, Patricia Graham is seen hitting one student at least a couple of times with a wrapped-up extension cord.
However, the student is holding his left arm in a defensive position. After hitting the student, she says, “now sit down.”
A south Lenior student, Eli Day, said, “And I heard one of them was sleeping and that’s why they got hit with the extension chord because they were sleeping.”
However, the school system reviewed all the circumstances, and “law enforcement has been briefed, and the school has communicated with the parents too of the students involved.”
The 71-year-old South Lenoir High School teacher, Graham, will be charged with simple assault. Officers said two students, ages 16 and 17, were stuck by the teacher.
Sheriff Jackie Rogers said that the video deeply disturbed him, and he is proud of his sheriff’s office personnel, who immediately responded to this. Jackie Rogers commended them for their investigation that resulted in her arrest.
South Lenior High School parent Shannon Taylor saw the video and said, “I would’ve whooped her butt. I would’ve whooped her tail over my younging. I would’ve gone to jail for assault. Any parent would.”
Lenior County Schools said Graham resigned. 71-year-old was a teacher from 1976 to 2013, when she retired and returned as a part-time teacher in 2014, as per the school system.
The police officers said that they were in the process of formally arresting her that afternoon.
