A South Georgia elementary school is facing backlash after a six-year-old Black girl was sent home wearing only a t-shirt and underwear.
Avishaye Daniels, the girl’s mother, said she sent her daughter Aylah to Baker County Elementary School fully clothed in the morning, only to have her return home in Newton with no shorts on.
Outraged, the girl’s parents reached out to the school only to learn their daughter had been dressed in that state from noon until 3 p.m. and was sent home without any explanation.
Aylah’s father was fuming over the school’s lack of oversight.
“How can you look over my 6-year-old daughter in just a t-shirt and panties, socks and shoes for three hours?” said Aylah’s father, Daman Bell, according to WALB.
“I was mad, but I was more shocked than anything,” Daniels said.
Images obtained by a local TV news station show the child dressed in a white shirt with green lettering, jean shorts, and pink sneakers before heading off to school.
However, by the time she returned home, she was dressed in a longer white shirt with red and blue lettering.
Baker County Schools Principal Jeff Henderson explained that the school held a chalk party, during which students’ clothes got dirty, and then Aylah’s parents were called to bring her a clean shirt to change into.
When questioned, the girl said she forgot to put her shorts back on while changing, and due to the long length of her shirt, the teacher didn’t realize she was missing her shorts.
“We’ve never had this happen before,” Henderson said. “Her shirt was long. It went almost to her knee, and she was not fully exposed to anything like that throughout the day.”
The principal tried to assure the parents that the child was never in danger, adding that the school police and Baker County Sheriff’s Office reviewed security footage to verify that nothing criminal occurred during the time Aylah was without pants.
“We do care about their concerns and the safety of our students. We learned from this. It’s a big learning experience for everyone that this took place. It was never intentional, no way, shape, form this would ever happen,” Henderson emphasized.
Aylah’s parents said they remain adamant about their concerns and are now awaiting a full review of the school footage by deputies.
Despite apologies from both the principal and superintendent, the couple said they believe further action is necessary to ensure something like this never happens again.
