There's more story there. Something doesn't make sense.

I agree with Amberr. There has to be more to that story. My son will be in Kindergarten at Starling in August. Maybe I should give 'em a call. Looks like they'll need a new yearbook photographer...

Oh, that was bad. Sorry.

I agree with u miss meadows, I think hold story is not being told ,a public school cannot ban a parent away from a school that have children that young ,unless she has cause danger to the school or the kids. It does not make sense ........I have never here of anything like this , it the end of the school year . It should be a happy and joyest of the year not this .The school and gwinnett county should have handle the situation a better way. The children are too young to see this, and then air all over the even new. sad''''''''''sad''''''''

There is MOST definitely more to the story! The yearbook has already been issued for the year. (All parents are "yearbook photographers"- anyone can turn in his or her pics.) It's as simple as she broke the law and can't accept the punishment. I would be far more angry if a parent who had been issued criminal trespassing charges was NOT arrested. She could have left when she was asked politely (even though she was aware that she was there inappropriately) and did not. Starling is an awesome school! Be very glad your child will attend there! I am still not certain what socialism and communism have to do with breaking rules and receiving consequences- something any dedicated stay-at-home mom for 12 years should understand!

Wow...

I have been very impressed with the administration and staff at Starling, and I feel confident that the matter was handled appropriately. When I was volunteering at my daughter's elementary school, I saw behavior from parents there that would shock your socks off, so I don't have any trouble imagining how things could escalate to a point where a criminal trespassing charge was filed. I feel really sad for this woman's child. What a terrible way to end her school year!

In case it didn't come across clearly, my comment about the yearbook photography was tongue in cheek. I hope we hear more about this case soon... it's definitely intriguing!

"I am still not certain what socialism and communism have to do with breaking rules and receiving consequences- something any dedicated stay-at-home mom for 12 years should understand!"--

Lee, do you have info we don't have? Please share!

Starling has more than just cause to issue a trespass warning to Mrs. Swilley. It is unfortunate and something that I know the administration did not consider lightly, but it is forth safety of our children. She has been given more than ample opportunity to show that she is willing to comply with school rules and she simply chooses to ignore them. Not only that, she verbally assaults the school staff in front of other parents and students when she doesn't agree with anything she's being told. I am at the school on a daily basis as a volunteer and have had the misfortune of witnessing MANY of her daily episodes. In a time when school budgets are being cut more than ever, our admin does not need to focus their energy on non-compliant parents. We all have to follow the rules. This is the SAME parent who wanted to nominate herself to be in charge of your PTA funds. Then contested the results of the election and wanted a recount of that election which was 77/14. She has her own agenda and you bet there is MORE to the story! Lee is right on!! I just had to shake my head when she commented on the "communist, socialist county." I don't even know how to respond to that appropriately... The real losers here are her children. Surprisingly, they are very well adjusted, polite, respectful children despite the behavior of their mother. The good thing is that kids are resilient and they will bounce back and get past this. And so will STARLING!

Ok, so she broke a rule. The point is being missed. This woman was severely beaten just to get her off property. It doesn't take that much force to bring down anyone with proper training. This is just more evidence of improper reactions to situations that could have been resolved differently by authorities. I just saw police toss a man from a wheel chair and beat him up to arrest him. Come on people. Blame the parent for not leaving. The rest is excessive force. My A+ son was punished for talking, but he was punished in two classes because the teacher taught the another of his classes. Because he said it wasn't fair he had next morning detention. We could have argued about it but I am 6'4" and an intimidating figure. The last thing I need is for someone to hint of aggression. In this society of bravado, I couldn't swear on a stack of bibles and get any one of you to believe that I was wronged by authorities if something like this happened to me. If you weren't there even if you work there and didn't see it, stop commenting on it with judgment. It was a couple of men beating up a woman. Authority or not. It should be unacceptable.

From the information provided in an AJC article yesterday it appears that she has entered the school several times without signing in and has been told repeatedly that entering the building without signing in is against the rules. When school staff addressed this issue with her, she was allegedly verbally abusive to the staff. Those rules are in place to protect our children, and she repeatedly ignored those rules.

After the school issued a criminal trespass warrant, she entered school grounds anyway. She blatantly ignored a legal document forbidding her from entering the school. The principal asked her to leave. She would not. The police were called, and she resisted arrest and engaged in a physical scuffle with the officers.

So- a breakdown of things we know from various reputable sources:

1. Ms. Swilley broke school rules repeatedly. 2. Was issued a criminal trespass warrant, forbidding her to enter school property. 3. Ignored a legally binding warrant and entered school property anyway. 4. Refused to leave the school property when confronted civilly. 5. Resisted arrest.

At what point does this become unfair to this woman? It sounds to me like she was given many chances to do the right thing. Regardless of gender or race, you've got to know that disregarding a legal trespass warrant is going to land you in trouble with the police. And then she refused to leave peaceably and resisted arrest. All of this IN FRONT OF THE CHILDREN.

Also, being a PTA volunteer and a stay-at-home mom doesn't give her a license to break school rules. I'm also a PTA volunteer and a stay-at-home mom, and I would expect the same treatment as Ms. Swilley was given if I conducted myself the way she has.

Trust me Raven, it's more to this story!! I know this person. Donna Ledford is A Bully!! And that's a fact! I pulled my daughter from this school. Donna Ledford writes her owe rules and the Board of Education lets' her get away with it.. Period. You can not just walk into Starling without Signing in, my child went to this school. Parents need to just take notice and become more involved in the community. Why would a Principal be transferred around to 5 different school within the past 10 years? This is the issue..
http://bullyingwithinthepublicschools.blogspot.com/

I'm not really sure what your problem is Mary, but obviously you are of the mind that parents should be allowed to call the shots in the schools. I am very involved as a parent, volunteer, and sub teacher in the Gwinnett schools and I can tell you that they would NEVER issue a criminal trespass unless the parent had done something to make the school feel the need to protect the children by keeping her out! It is documented that she has bullied and threatened staff members herself...she causes constant disruption and problems that prevent the teachers from teaching. If I had a student there that was affected by this woman's antics, I would be FURIOUS if the school allowed it to happen without consequences. What a horrible example she is setting for her own children! I don't care who you are, how much money you have, or how "special" you think you and your kids are....EVERYONE MUST FOLLOW ALL THE SCHOOL RULES!!! This is what is wrong with the kids now...many are brought up to believe they are so special and do not have to follow the same rules as everyone else. It is such a shame that her kids are having to go through this...I feel quite sorry for them because they will be the ones hurt by this and they will be the ones that everyone talks about their mom and what happened.....is that fair to them?????

Yohaun,
I find it funny that you say, "If you weren't there, stop commenting on it with judgement." You then go on to say, "It was a couple of men beating up a woman." How can you make that judgement if you weren't there. Secondly, one of the police officers was a woman so you are wrong on that one as well. I hope and pray that there is some kind of video of the actual incident that will exonerate the officers. I have had the misfortune of having to deal with Ms. Swilley's pot stirring antics outside of this school incident so the fact that this has happened doesn't really shock me.

Mary. I DO know the full story as I was standing right there during the entire incident and watched it in its entirety. I also HELD Ms. Gordon's 2 YO child AFTER she abandoned him inside the shcool to follow her friend KICKING AND SCREAM "Call the media!" ALL THE WAY DOWN THE HALL- CLAWING AT THE POLICE OFFICERS, WHO WERE INJURED BY MRS. SWILLEY. I, personally watched the 2yo boy in the lobby while Mrs. Gordon had no care in the world where her child was for over 30 minutes. When she DID finally return to the building, she was not concerned that her son had been crying thinking the police were taking her to jail. She just leisurely strolled in (not "terified" as she stated to the media) laughing and joking with another parent as if she didn't even remember that she had a 2 yo son. She never said "Thank you" for caring for her child... Never expressed relief that someone took care of her child... She was only smiling from ear to ear with a sense of accomplishment. Why on earth would they be standing on the OPPOSITE side of the GYM from where their (the three of them) kids class was WITH cameras in hand ready to spring into action and take pictures? And then have Fox 5, Channel 2, and Channel 46 on speed dial on her phone?? I watched her call the media as she walked out the door! She said, "Dont' worry, I'm already on it!" It all looked just a little too staged to me, and I'm not the only one that feels that way.

Mrs. Swilley refuses to sign in at the front desk. This is a BASIC policy at EVERY school. With or WITHOUT a trespass warning in effect she could have been arrested. All parents are encouraged to volunteer at Starling. Mrs. Ledford has NEVER disallowed parents from volunteering. I am sorry that you had a bad experience, Mary. My kids have attended Starling since the day that it opened and I have never felt unwelcomed there. In fact, we could use more volunteers and are always looking for more help. Parents have to follow the rules though, and when you don't agree there is an adult way to go about getting things changed in an adult manner. Bashing the administration is just not an effective way to get what you want. Maybe one day you will figure that out. It is my belief that that every teacher and administrator had the best interest of EVERY student at heart within the walls of Starling. I don't know what you have to gain from trash talking our school, but if you are no longer affiliated... MOVE ON!! Mrs. Swilley had a chance to leave. No one beat her up. She fell into a door because she made a choise NOT to cooperate with police. It was NOT two men. It was a man and a woman. SHE is the one that was out of line and I think you will eventually see that when the official video is released. Then there will be no questions or room for discussion.

Volunteer...why are you now bashing Ms. Gordon?! Also, since you know so much..can you elaborate on/provide details on what Mary has stated about Ms. Ledford being transferred between 5 schools in a 10 year period? That just does not sound right.

Did you see this loving mom at the last board meeting? She had her little girl read an ugly letter about her principal to the board members in a room with several hundreds in attendance. What kind of mom would do that? The kind of mom who would knowingly go to the school and refuse to leave, refuse to do what the police told her and then prance around for HOURS with dried blood on her face for all to see. I hope DFAC was watching.

I know for an absolute fact that a CBS news truck was at her house last Thursday. I don't know exactly why it was there but it seems rather odd to have CBS News at your house and then the very next week this incident occurs. Who's first on the scene? Yep, CBS news. Interesting.

Mary....obviously you don't know how the system works. Mrs. Ledford was promoted during those 10 years from teacher, assistant principal, to principal. It is also quite an accomplishment for any principal to be given the honor of opening a new school. It is quite obvious the board of education has great faith in her abilities to lead a school. Also, the job of the school is to teach these children. It is not their job to appease the parent's need to be with their child 24/7. While parents are greatly encouraged to volunteer at all GCPS schools they need to follow the rules for the safety of all the children.

Thank you Lee, that would be just what the Swilley's want. No matter how much a parent disagrees with their child's teacher, principal or school you don't act this way. I wouldn't even allow my children to watch this type of behavior as a TV show. Adults handle issues as adults. What type of example is she setting for her children and the other children at that school? If I were a parent there I would demand that she not be allowed on campus so my children won't be exposed to bad adult behavior.

Barbara,
As far as I'm concerned, your comments show that you are no better than Ms. Swilley and possibly even worse.
The more of a racial issue this becomes, the more Swilley wins.

What about the right of all the children to have a safe, drama free environment in which to learn? Administrators jobs are to provide this for all of our children. Mrs. Ledford is doing this. She is willing to stand up to these parent bullys to do what is right for our children. For that, I am very thankful. I, like many others who have commented, have a child in the school, soon to be two there - I am VERY happy with the education my child recieves and the lessons that are being taught there - respect for others, respect for self and the importance of a good education. Let's let our children learn in a safe and productive environment. THANK YOU MRS LEDFORD AND STARLING STAFF FOR DOING WHAT IS RIGHT FOR OUR KIDS.

Mary,
Thank you for this job history on Ms. Ledford. Wow! I think this is a very impressive resume and I'm quite thankful to have someone of her caliber at my child's school. Now I can clearly see why she got the honor of being the principal at a brand new school in a nice part of Gwinnett County.

Ok I'm an outsider i.e. I have no children who attend this school and I am a black woman. I've read the newspaper about what happened and I believe she resisted arrest. The picture looks horrible but I beleive she brought it on herself. When police officers ask you to do something; DO IT! Officers are trained to be ready for the unexpected; not to mention she has been warned many times. "This woman was severely beaten just to get her off property. It doesn't take that much force to bring down anyone with proper training." She RESISTED arrest; PERIOD!

Has anyone asked about issues at other school's. Everyone is so quick to questions Ms. Ledford's back ground but why don't they research Ms. Swilley's. Mary, has there ever been any problems at Pharr? Is there any on going issues at Couch MS or Grayson High School? When it was reported that there are currently 2 Trespassing Warnings for Ms Swilley, are they referring to another school. Ouch!!!!!!!!

When you cross a dirty Principal, you’re made out to be the bad person... Really, I moved to this area like most people so that my kids could be in a good school, not to be bullied by a principal… This lady will get’s in your face; it’s only a matter of time before that’s on the 5 o’clock news..

Raven, you can sign up for the fb recommend button, which is listed above..
Raven, did you see the criminal trespass warrant that came from the school district? This is here say. Your statement is outrageous, and yes she was beat down by the cops, I'm sure had it not been recorded she would be dead, as she was indeed beat down!! We do not live in a perfect world, as you have dirty cops and dirty principals. I will keep you posted on the True full story, it will clear up everything when the time is right..

Mary,
There is not one single news source or eyewitness reporting that she was beat down. All she has is a cut lip that probably happened when she was forcibly getting handcuffed due to her physical resistance. She is not seriously injured at all. Her lip started bleeding so it looks far worse than it is. I'm sure Ms. Swilley as a big smile on her face now, just hoping that this story can get turned into a police brutality case so she can get a big fat settlement. It's not likely to happen, but I'm sure that's what she wants.

Mary,
Again will you answer the questions if she has had any other problems at any other schools. For that matter have you had any issues at other schools? It would be interesting to know. As far as the blood on her face I thought someone offered her a towel to wipe the blood off. It really is a shame that she could not find a wash cloth to clean her self up before her evening news performance. How many hours later.
But Mary please respond about any other issues at other schools, lunchroom issues, sports club, neighborhood issues.

I actually was at Starling in the very place this incident took place and I never noticed anything happening. I was on the opposite side of the gym but if there was a beat down taking place, I dare say I would have noticed. Supposedly, "dozens" of kids witnessed the event per some news outlets. You make it sound like Ms. Ledford ordered her into a secret chamber and had her beaten mercilessly. Ms. Ledford had nothing to do with the physical arrest.

And no, I've never hit a woman in my life.

I have a child at Starling. It's a great school, with a great staff. Mrs. Swilley said on tv that she was beginning to think that she didn't live in a Democracy anymore...We never have...this is a Republic that is ruled by laws/rules, and not the public majority (mob rule), which is what a Democray is. I'm glad Starling isn't a Free Range School. As for Mary's comments, some credibility was lost when the race card was played. The main thing to keep in mind....It's about the kids and their safety. Not about a parent not getting her way.

Folks,

I'm intervening a little late in this discussion, but I'd like to encourage everyone to tone it down a little. There are obviously a lot of impassioned people involved in this discussion -- some personally involved -- and Patch encourages passionate debate. But we discourage personal attacks, insults, name calling, unverified accusations, etc. I have deleted some of the more inflammatory comments; many others here are borderline. Please review our Terms of Use -- http://lawrenceville-ga.patch.com/terms -- and try to work through this civilly. Thanks.

Mary,

I never said that she had a current student at Grayson High School. I was wondering if there have ever been any issues at any other schools. Have you ever had any issues at other schools? It seems that you were so quick to check Ms. Ledford's back ground but you have not mentioned if Ms. Swilley has had any problems or issues with any other schools or is this just with Starling. Most of the county schools go by the same rules. Were there any problems at Pharr? Is there any issues at Couch, with the lunchroom at the school, sports clubs, neighborhood issues? I really would like to know if Starling is where her issues are at. Why would the county say that there are 2 Trespass warnings against her if this is not true? Pleeeease answer the questions, has she had issues at other schools?

Rocking Room Mom,
No, Mrs. Swilley did not have any "issues" with Pharr nor Couch, only Starling... Not sure at this time why the county would have 2 Trespass warnings listed (if any)... Also I do know that Mrs. Ledford has had several complaints from all of the schools she has worked with in the past and current, (from every background). I myself have been bullied by Mrs. Ledford. Also, all of the county's should have the same rules but they don't, They also should have the same curriculum, but they don't..

Please let's not place judgement and we don't have all the true facts! A school whether it is in the county or city if it is a public school they should be all functioning under the same policies and procedures.

Yes, it is funny Jeff, since I deleted my post.. lol funny... And who deleted your very rude post!

If you are a parent who has received a criminal trespass warning from a Gwinnett County Public School or had an arrest warrant issued by the School Resource Officer (SRO), please contact Gwinnett STOPP ASAP at info@GwinnettSTOPP.org

No Rocking Mom, it wasn't me, was it you? You guys are full of here say..

The link to the truth,, Stay tuned!!
http://bullyingwithinthepublicschools.blogspot.com/

Mary,
Really? You have pulled a child out of school, this you stated in a previous post. So no not me. As a matter of fact my children attend their respective schools for their age and district. And I am also permitted to visit my childs schools. I follow the rules and sign in, show id, pay for lost text books, leave coaches alone, pay for lunches that my child eats and we also do not try to sneak in on field trips. You did not respond to any of this. Did you ask Ms. Swilley about these baseic rules, do you follow these rules? We all have seen Ms. Swilley's address from her Mug Shot picture. Do all of her children attend the schools they should?
Grayson High School - you said she has none that attend there, but doesnt she have one that is in high school age?

@MARY Don't really care that Parks deleted my post, sounds like YOU read it and that's all I care because it was addressed to YOU.

LISTEN FOLKS- You're all wasting your time responding to MARY's posts. You can rebut her a million times and she just won't get it! Or, perhaps she does get it, but chooses not to ignore you. Let's move on to something worthwhile...BTW, MARY, the word is HEARSAY, not HERE SAY.

Just want to let Mary know that Mrs. Swilley was found Guilty on ALL 4 counts today. Sentencing will be tomorrow. Fact check that.

Sentenced to ten days in jail, mandatory psychological evaluation, anger management classes, and lifetime ban from Starling campus. I guess the truth came out at the trial! Funny, no media there to cover the guilty sentence!

Hold your confederate flag Grayson mom, the media is about POP OFF!!

Does everyone know that Mrs. Ledfords hubbie is 5 O and he's sits in the room with the Judges? I've been to the courts with Mrs. Swilley and the Judge "would not" give her the time nor the day. "Sadly" what kind of person would not allow a parent to visit their child in school... A sick puppy, a control freak! that's for sure!! If you think it's more to this story then the G C media is given you.. Trust ME!! It's a lot more...

GEORGIA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL RANKINGS
#299
Starling Elementary Ranked 299!!! " Gwinnett " County

http://www.schooldigger.com/go/GA/schoolrank.aspx

#2
BIG CREEK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FORSYTH COUNTY

GEORGIA SCHOOL DISTRICT RANKINGS

http://www.schooldigger.com/go/GA/districtrank.aspx

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Patricia Swilley was found guilty because the district attorney took her case to trial when she had no attorney to represent her. She did get an attorney but he had less than 24 hours to prepare for the case. It's easy to win a criminal case when your opponent is not prepared. However, the case law shows that Gwinnett County Schools violated Ms. Swilley's 14th Amendment constitutional rights by banning her from her child's school without any form of due process hearing to challenge Donna Ledford's absurd allegations -- going to the Georgia Aquarium, allegedly talking to other parents in the parking lot about PTA elections, asking cafeteria staff about the proper food portions. Another school district tried this tactic, and you should see how it ended --- the Washington ACLU puts it best.

Click for the full story:

http://bullyingwithinthepublicschools.blogspot.com/