QUITMAN, Ark. — It was a packed room Tuesday night at the Quitman school board meeting.
We received several calls from parents saying there was alleged hazing and bullying, specifically regarding an alleged locker room incident.
"I've hoped these issues would get resolved or get better, but only have gotten worse and more deeply rooted and covered up," said Heather Pierce, a concerned parent.
Pierce, who has children at Quitman Public Schools, spoke about her children being threatened by other students. She said the administration was of little help to solve the problem.
"My daughter was on the receiving end of a lot of things," Pierce said. "When she would go to defend herself, she would be the one in trouble."
Pierce said that after unsuccessful attempts to work with the administration, she had come to the school board meeting to be heard.
"In light of other things that have come out lately, I wanted to make it known that these people are not the only ones," Pierce said.
Pierce has since pulled her daughter out of the district to homeschool her, but she has other kids still enrolled.
She said she would like the students and staff to be held responsible for these actions and she hopes the school board will listen to these parents' concerns.
We reached out to the Cleburne County Prosecutor's Office about these allegations. We have not received a response.
The school board would not comment after the meeting.
Quitman Superintendent Dennis Truxler said in a statement, "those allegations have been cleared and there was no hazing."
Another Quitman parent went before the State Board of Education two weeks ago pleading for them to look into hazing and bullying at Quitman schools.