Photo Courtesy of Cleveland Magazine
The principal at Akron’s I Promise School has resigned after being placed on leave for reportedly slapping a student in the face on September 22.
According to The Akron Beacon Journal, Brandi Davis submitted a formal letter of resignation on November 29. The education administrator reportedly slapped an 11-year old boy for cursing. The Akron Public School System secured witness statements and testimony that alleged that Davis hit the student during lunch after he was heard swearing while leaving the school’s restroom.
“Someone s**t in the urinal,” he yelled. The unidentified student also wrote an identical account in a statement.
“I reacted and popped him with my hand on his mouth,” Davis admitted in her own statement.
The student allegedly had a busted lip from the slap despite wearing a mask while in school.
Although the district held a hearing to determine its next course of action, Davis left her position before a decision was rendered.
Results of the investigation have not been released to the public.
Davis was the first principal at the I Promise School– which opened in 2017. The school, funded by Akron native and NBA superstar LeBron James, states that its mission is to “positively affect the lives of children and young adults through education and co-curricular educational initiatives.”
In 2019, Davis was celebrated as one of Cleveland’s Most Interesting People 2020. The former principal was credited with helping at-risk students at I Promise. She single-handedly increased the school’s student body by 71%.
According to the Akron Beacon Journal, the school has had two interim principals since the incident.