The Alvin Sun, Texas, 10 May 1985

AISD backs accused teacher

By Jack Duncan

Manvel Junior High physical education teacher Hugh Null, charged with injuring a student in a disciplinary paddling, continues to receive the support of Alvin Independent School District officials.

"In my opinion, Mr. Null should be completely and totally exonerated of all charges in this matter," Dr. Emmett McKenzie, superintendent of Alvin schools, told The Alvin Sun Thursday. "It is my position to recommend to the board (AISD trustees) that he (Null) receive our continued support. Mr. Null was performing his duties according to policy set by his principal and by the district."

Null has been charged by a grand jury with reckless injury to Michael Young, 14, whom he paddled March 8 with permission from Willine Young, the youth's mother. The boy was being punished for his part in a scuffle with another student in an unattended classroom.

The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday that Null had been indicted on the charge, and that he faces a possible one-year jail sentence and a possible $2,000 fine. But McKenzie, relaying information he had received from attorney David Feldman of Clear Lake, who represents the AISD, told The Sun that an indictment was improper in this case because the charge brought against Null is a misdemeanor offense.

"According to our attorney, the proper legal terminology is a bill of information, not an indictment," McKenzie said, adding, "An indictment is proper only in a felony situation."

Mrs. Young said that her son, a sixth-grader, required medical attention after the paddling and experienced muscle spasms. She filed a complaint with Manvel Police Department when she felt that she was not getting any cooperation from school administrators in the matter.

Null struck the boy twice with a wooden paddle wrapped with adhesive tape, according to Mrs. Young.

Corpun file 24307 at www.corpun.com

Ocala Star-Banner, Florida, 29 May 1985

Story Incorrectly Reported No Paddlings At North Marion

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A story published in Friday's editions of the Ocala Star-Banner incorrectly stated North Marion High School had not used corporal punishment once this school year.

Actually, North Marion High has used corporal punishment, or school spankings, about 127 times this year, according to Principal Lee Arnold.

Arnold said there were no spankings for North Marion High on file at the school system's management information services department, where the incorrect figure was obtained, because he was waiting until the end of the school year before making the report.