Teacher, fired in Ohio for misconduct, is suspended

Math teacher is on leave from Chamblee Middle.

A math teacher at Chamblee Middle School, previously terminated in Ohio after officials there said she physically and verbally assaulted students, is now on administrative leave from the DeKalb County School District.

Sandra Meeks-Speller has not been in the classroom since Oct. 10, district officials said Monday afternoon via email. They gave no reason for her removal.

Efforts to reach MeeksSpeller were not successful.

Meeks-Speller came to the district this summer from a school district in Columbus, Ohio, according to her personnel file. Before she worked there, she worked as a teacher and administrator at Toledo Public Schools from 1996 to 2013.

According to Meeks-Speller’s personnel file, she stated on her application for employment with the district that she was terminated by the district, but did not mention the allegations made against her there.

“As an administrator, I had a conflict with central office regarding teacher duties,” she wrote.

According to court records, Meeks-Speller was dismissed for not properly handling suspensions and expulsions, and complaints of physical and verbal abuse from staff and parents. One investigator said Meeks-Speller pushed students against the wall, put them in a headlock, twisted arms and grabbed them by the neck. A referee appointed by the Ohio Department of Education recommended overturning the termination, saying administrators were working against MeeksSpeller and district officials had not proved the level of misconduct suggested. The court did not agree. Regardless of the termination, Meeks-Speller was still licensed to work in education in Ohio, according to Ohio Department of Education records.

Lisa Harris, who had a child in Meeks-Speller’s math class, said parents were aware of Meeks-Speller’s history in Ohio, but issues locally came to their attention after a curriculum event at the school. Harris said a parent relayed to a group of other parents that MeeksSpeller immediately took a negative tone after mistakenly being called “Spellers,” ignoring the parent the rest of the evening. About 20 parents held a meeting last month after hearing of issues with Meeks-Speller from their students as well. A letter listing concerns was sent to Superintendent Steve Green.

“I was shocked and disappointed, and also frustrated because this isn’t the first major teacher issue my children have had to deal with,” Harris said. “It was a sad commentary on the obvious lack of leadership in the DeKalb Schools (human resources) department. Just seeing whether she has a license and no felony convictions isn’t enough.

“A simple Google history search would have brought everything up in the first couple of links.”

News of Meeks-Speller’s leave of absence comes as the district deals with the recent reassignment of the new principal at Tucker High School. DeKalb Schools officials said Tamra Watts was reassigned to the district’s administrative offices effective Monday, but would not give a reason for her reassignment. She became the school’s principal in May, after having been principal at Towers High School, her alma mater.