Kate Royals/Mississippi Today
Greenville School District administrative offices on Main St. in Greenville
The Mississippi Department of Education is seeking to revoke or suspend the educator license of Linda Winters Johnson, a former teacher who was recorded dragging a special needs student by her hair across the basketball court at Greenville High School.
The department’s complaint shows that the Greenville Public School reported on Oct. 7 that Linda Winters Johnson broke the law by “engaging in unethical conduct relating to an educator/student relationship.”
Efforts to reach Johnson on Friday were unsuccessful. Her Facebook page was removed shortly after the video became public on Facebook last week.
The department’s complaint states the “unprofessional conduct” occurred on or around Sept. 21. It included “but was not necessarily limited to, physically grabbing, hitting in the head and dragging of a special needs student during P.E. class at Greenville High School.”
A licensure hearing for Winters Johnson is scheduled for Nov. 4 before the Commission on Teacher and Administrator Education, Certification and Licensure and Development. She will face possible suspension or revocation of her license.
Greenville Superintendent Leeson Taylor was placed on paid administrative leave earlier this week pending an investigation into how the district handled the incident.