Nine-year-old Harlem Barrett is homeschooled. He also is nonverbal and autistic. His mother, Atoya Barrett, told The Tribune that finding the right school for him has been tough.

For the past two and a half years, Harlem attended PreEminent Charter School in Raleigh, one of several schools run by a national for-profit education company called National Heritage Academies.

Before attending PreEminent, Barrett said her son wasn’t being academically challenged in his special education classes at Wake County Public Schools. “They weren't challenging him enough. I felt like he was doing a lot of coloring and whatnot, and I know my son can do much more than that,” she said.

Harlem bounced around schools trying to find the right fit. At the recommendation of one of her neighbors, Harlem was accepted at PreEminent Charter, but Barrett said it’s “been a rollercoaster” since then.

Harlem was doing wonderfully until May 2024, she said, when his special education teacher, Kaitlyn Jacobson, was arrested for misdemeanor child abuse. Soon after, his second teacher was let go. After that, his third teacher left.

“She was an excellent teacher, and she quit overnight,” Barrett said. “She said she doesn't want to talk about it, but her exact words were, ‘the school was doing things that morally she couldn't get with,’ and said they were doing things ‘against her conscience.’ And that's very telling for a teacher to say that.”

PreEminent Charter School Principal Stephanie Solomon did not respond to repeated phone calls and email requests for comment.

On Dec. 19, while visiting Durham’s Central Park, Barrett said a PreEminent parent’s daughter approached her and said that Harlem and other special education students had been abused for months. Barrett filed a police report the same day.

The girl also told her the special education class had no teacher, just an instructional assistant. Barrett said the instructional assistant, Tariq White, was previously placed on disciplinary action when the abuse occurred, a copy emailed to The Tribune.

On Dec. 31, Barrett requested via email to Solomon that all video footage of her son be released but has received no response. She also was told that the police detective involved in her son’s case was being denied footage access.

With nowhere else to turn, she contacted the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s Office of Charter Schools.

“For issues related to individual students such as discipline, specific parent concerns, etc., we do not have any authority or oversight,” read an email sent to Barrett from the assistant director of the Office of Charter Schools Nicky Niewinski on Jan. 7. “If you feel there is a risk to student safety, local law enforcement is the appropriate source for support.”

Barrett said she is now the face of a group of at least eight parents, because the others are scared about retaliation.

On Jan. 7, Barrett received an email from Solomon stating that Harlem had over 10 unexcused absences and his attendance must improve or the school “may refer the issue to the District Attorney and/or the District Court.”

Barrett believes this was an act of retaliation against her for speaking out. “Retaliation is real, and that's exactly why, on Jan. 13, I pulled my son out, because I know once I started telling the story, things were going to get bad,” she said.

Barrett said she would like a full, independent investigation into the school. According to North Carolina School Report Cards, PreEminent Charter has a D rating.

The Rev. Charlrean Mapson sits on the North Carolina Council of Developmental Disabilities, as her son, Jadon, has autism. She told The Tribune that she’s “not surprised” at the alleged PreEminent Charter incidents, sharing her own struggles with public and charter schools treating her son poorly.

“They don't think they can get caught because if they do it with a child who's nonverbal, the child cannot express what's happening,” she said.

Mapson said there should be some sort of investigation into whether North Carolina’s schools are actually meeting the requirements of The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, federal legislation that tailors public education to fit every student’s individual needs, regardless of ability.

“We need more compassionate people in the field,” she said. “You can't just go into teaching and just say, ‘oh, I'm gonna do special needs just because I need a job.’ You have to be prepared to understand that that job comes with a lot.”

Comments