PINE BLUFF, Ark. — Editor's note: The video shown above is from November 2019 as Pine Bluff schools began teaching African American history.
According to the Pine Bluff School District, a lawsuit was filed against the Pine Bluff High School principal, Dr. Michael Nellums, and the district.
Superintendent Dr. Jeremy Owoh said this is the first time the District administrative team ever received any notice of the allegations contained in the lawsuit.
Superintendent Dr. Owoh released a statement regarding the allegations:
"The District is aware of the lawsuit filed against Dr. Nellums and the District, which was the first time the District administrative team ever received any notice of the allegations contained in the lawsuit. The District is taking prompt remedial measures to address the issues raised in the lawsuit. Dr. Nellums has been placed on administrate leave pending the ongoing investigation. As this matter is both a personnel issue and involves student privacy rights, the District cannot give further comment."
The statement from Principal Dr. Michael Nellums is below:
Last year in January of 2019, I reported Lakecha Bradley for changing her daughters grades in the Arkansas Public School Computer Network (APSCN) system. It was investigated and she was terminated from her job with the Pine Bluff School District. Mrs. Bradley then sued me. Not before, but only after I reported her.
Additional investigations revealed that Mrs. Bradley not only changed the grade of one daughter, but another daughter, and possibly several other students allowing at least one to become an Honor Graduate at Pine Bluff High School. Additionally, it was discovered that she gave APSCN passwords that allowed others to change grades as well. Perhaps hundreds of grades over a period of several years. I have reported this to the US attorney’s office and sued Mrs. Bradley for slander and defamation. A civil lawsuit was recently filed against me by Mrs. Bradley nephew, Al Stokes. Both Stokes and his aunt, Lakecha Bradley have numerous run-ins with law enforcement. Stokes was shot last year in a dispute at KIBB’s Barbeque in Pine Bluff, and possibly benefitted from his Aunt’s work with the computer network which reports attendance and grades and discipline. That too is under investigation.
These two (relative’s) meritless lawsuits are obviously a combined attack on me, and a smoke screen for reporting the academic and possible wire fraud Mrs. Bradley has engaged in. I look forward to complete vindication, returning to work soon, and am seeking damages. In this instance Bradley in no different than “Felicity Huffman.” She is just African-American. And Black folks should not and cannot allow cheating to occur in Public Schools or Colleges anywhere! We must earn our own.
It is my hope that legal authorities extend the full measure of the law to her for the academic and wire fraud she and others have committed against the State of Arkansas.
More on this story as it develops.