Haralson-Paulding Drug Task Force agents searched Parrish’s residence at 304 Buchanan St., Bremen, and allegedly found the components of methamphetamine in the process of being cooked. Also arrested and charged with criminal attempt to manufacture methamphetamine were Jake Ryan Lee, 22; Blake Bryan Lee, 22; Michael Lee Bott, 23; Andrew Denton Grimes, 25; and Amanda Therese Crabb, 23, all of 304 Buchanan street, Bremen; and Victoria Ann Deaton, 25, of 853 Agan Road, Bremen.
In an emergency called board meeting Friday, Board Chairman Daryl Sellers, and board members Vann Pelt and Rob Walker, voted 3 to 0 to accept Parrish’s resignation letter. Superintendent Dr. Stanley McCain was also at the meeting. The board held a closed executive session for about 10 minutes.
Sellers read a resignation letter from Parrish dated April 2 when the meeting was called back into open session.
“Thank you for letting me teach here for over six years. Please accept my deepest apologies for the negative perception caused due to my actions, and for the incident that occurred this week at my residence,” Parrish said in the letter.
McCain issued a statement on April 3 and said the events leading up to Valerie Parrish’s resignation were truly unfortunate for her family and the school system.
Parrish, 29, is the daughter of Assistant Superintendent of Bremen City Schools Janis Parrish and Bremen School Board member Gordon Parrish.
According to Haralson-Paulding Drug Task Force Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Jimmy Tarvin, Valerie Parrish’s residence had been searched on Jan. 27 and July 14 of 2009, and on both occasions, agents arrested Jake Lee for possession of methamphetamine.
McCain said he could not comment on the previous personnel actions the school may have made after Parrish’s alleged encounters with authorities.
“There are legal guidelines that govern the action that a public school system can take in dealing with personnel issues with contracted, certified employees. Bremen City Schools like any other public school system can not take action against a contracted employee without documented evidence. We can not act on rumor, speculation, or innuendo,” he said.
On Monday, McCain said he made a report concerning Parrish and teacher misconduct to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. The Commission licenses teachers and handles the investigation, advisement, monitoring and due process of cases associated with educator discipline.
“We can now move beyond this situation to focus our efforts on the needs of our students and of the system,” he said.
Also on Monday, Bremen High School Principal Duane McManus issued a letter to students in Parrish’s classes and said the “incident with Miss Parrish was extremely difficult to accept” because Bremen High School is proud of “providing a quality education with a personal touch.”
“We cannot allow this incident to cloud our judgement of the quality teachers who walk our halls each day and who do more than just teach you; these are the same teachers and coaches that care about you ... I hope you use this unfortunate turn of events as a learning and growing experience. Remember, each and every decision you make can have a positive or negative effect on the quality and outcome of your life.”
Parrish’s classes will be covered by certified history teacher David Clay, current BHS Graduation Coach, and BHS Coach Tony Armas with the assistance of full-time substitute Robert Gordon. McManus said in the letter “we fully believe we can cover the curriculum as defined by the Georgia Professional Standards ... It is our goal that students miss very little instructional time during this transition and this semester will not be wasted in time, content or Carnegie [graduation] units.”
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