Parent arrested for assaulting school principal
By Mary Alice Royse and Joe Wenzel
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CLARKSVILLE, Tennessee (WSMV) — The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office charged an elementary school parent after assaulting her child’s principal on Thursday afternoon.
The sheriff’s office said Tandrea Laquise Sanders of Clarksville faces charges after physically assaulting Glenellen Elementary School Principal Emily Clark. The school surveillance cameras captured footage of Sanders after the alleged physical assault around 1:15 p.m.
The assault occurred in the school building during a meeting between Clark and Sanders. The sheriff’s office said Sanders fled the school before the arrival of school resource officers at 825 Needmore Road.
Sanders is currently being booked into jail.
“We as parents and community members have absolutely had enough. Our SRO’s are working tirelessly to maintain safety on our school campuses for students and school staff. Dealing with the behavioral issues of an adolescent student is challenging enough, now we have a parent who feels that they can come to a school campus and act in this manner. This is not the first time that this has occurred. Well, I can tell you that circumstances like this will not be tolerated. I spoke with District Attorney Nash this morning about this incident and will ensure that Sanders is prosecuted to the fullest extent possible. A message needs to and will be sent. The example starts here with Sanders and this incident.”
Sheriff John Fuson Sheriff John Fuson said he is pushing for seven new school resource officers in the new county budget because of an increase in assaultive activity in some of our high and middle schools.
“This creates a shift in personnel that requires some of our elementary schools to once again; nowSROs share an SRO. This is the case with Glenellen. Seven additional SROs have been requested for next school year to ensure a 1:1 SRO/School ratio in our elementary schools and a 2:1 ratio for some of our middle and high schools,” the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said.
School District officials told News4 that Clark is recovering and that school officials take this situation seriously.
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