Candace Nicole Hall of Castlewood told the Russell County School Board that her daughter, who is covered by a Section 504 plan, was struck by a substitute teacher on Oct. 24 and that the family learned of the incident only when the school called at about 2:30 p.m. that day. "I got a call on October 24 from Caswood Elementary that told me that my daughter had been hit by a substitute teacher in that class," Hall said.

Hall said she later learned classmates had told the principal they saw the substitute strike her daughter; Hall told the board she was not permitted to view a video a student recorded and that she had to arrange follow-up meetings herself because she believed the school board had not been notified as policy requires. "When I finally got to have a meeting with mister Mullins, miss Jen from Georgia McCoy, along with the principals at the elementary, I found out that principal had already asked the kids in the class what had happened," she said.

Angela Ellis later described a separate safety concern involving the middle-school baseball program. Ellis said middle-school coaches repeatedly left teams unsupervised and that during one trip a student assaulted her son on the bus while no qualified adult intervened. "There was no adult intervention whatsoever. None," Ellis said, describing a sustained altercation she said lasted 45 minutes to an hour before other students separated the youths.

Both speakers said prior assurances from school staff had not resolved the issues to their satisfaction. Hall told the board she had been told the incident was "under investigation" and that a district contact could not guarantee her daughter's safety. Ellis said she had been told previously that coaches would be removed, but later saw one of the same volunteers coaching during football season and another coaching a youth program using school property.

Board members and staff did not make new policy announcements during public comment. Superintendent Dr. Cook and other administrators present noted items later on the agenda for follow-up and said personnel and student-safety matters often involve ongoing investigations, confidentiality considerations, and personnel procedures. The transcript records that commenters were offered opportunities to meet with administrators and that board members acknowledged the complaints and directed staff to continue investigating where appropriate.

The public comment period in which these remarks were made included several other speakers and concluded after the board heard and responded to multiple requests for follow-up.