A former Woodstock Middle School counselor told Channel 2 Action News Monday that she was unfairly treated during an investigating into slurs she said to female students, which led to her departure from the school.
Dede Manzella, who worked for the district for over 20 years, was accused of telling a group of half-dressed sixth-grade girls in a locker room to “raise your hand if you’re a (expletive), AJC.com previously reported.
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However, Manzella told Channel 2 the girls were clothed, she was misquoted and she was trying to stop a fight between them on Aug. 20.
She said the words she used were to demonstrate that such language wouldn’t be tolerated, since the girls were using the same graphic language while bullying each other online.
“It’s not possible that anyone here is a (expletive). You guys are 11. Right, like anybody,” she said before raising her hand. “So it wasn’t like it was, ‘Raise your hand if you are.’ You know?”
Manzella told the news station the school’s principal thanked her for how she handled the situation until parents began to complain.
The complaints prompted an internal investigation, and Manzella was assigned to work at a warehouse for a month, she told Channel 2.
On Sept. 27, the Cherokee County School District said she no longer worked with the school, and it later released a statement saying the comments were investigated, and “there will be no criminal charges,” AJC.com previously reported.
“I felt like they were using me as a scapegoat to appease the parents,” Manzella said. “It was like being sucker punched ... because I hadn’t heard some of those allegations.”
Officials are looking for a replacement for Manzella.
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