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Raven-Symone Shumpert was shopping in Walmart on May 18 when she received a call from her son. He told her about screenshots he had seen in a group chat with friends that he had been told showed text messages two teachers had exchanged at Okolona Middle School.
“Mom, is this anything to say to anyone?” he asked.
Confused, Shumpert waited for the photos of the messages to arrive in her inbox. One of the messages included a negative remark about her son, she said.
“She was just saying that my son doesn’t need to laugh at anyone until his mom, which is me, figures out who his daddy is,” Shumpert told the Mississippi Free Press in an interview on May 20.
Shumpert was one of several parents and community members who arrived at Okolona Middle School on May 19 to discuss the messages with school officials. She said school leaders seemed shocked when she showed them the screenshots.
“Both principals read some of the messages on my phone,” Shumpert said. “He said, ‘Please Mrs. Shumpert, let us handle it and I said, ‘OK, that’s fine. I’m trusting you, the principal, to do something about it.”
Students and families shared the messages with school officials and reported that a student took pictures of a teacher’s computer screen. Images of the alleged messages showed two people discussing students’ clothing and family finances. One screenshot showed them discussing rigging a school vote so a certain student would not win the competition. Another screenshot showed a conversation about harming individuals.
“I need it to flood out these roads so we can stay home tomorrow. I’m about ready to kill some folks,” said one message the Mississippi Free Press reviewed.
“Just kill em. I’ll help you hide the body. We will go to jail together,” the reply said.
Parents are seeking answers after shocking text messages that included negative comments about Okolona Middle School students were