Memphis Elementary School Principal Susan Hankins has been placed on paid leave not long after a parent says she brought screenshots of text messages containing alleged racist and homophobic remarks to the school board.
While not confirmed to be from Hankins, some screenshots have now spread widely on social media.
Local 4 spoke to some parents who defend her, but others claim this is part of a long-standing pattern of problematic behavior.
The parent who found the messages told us her issues with Hankins go back several years. She said the alleged messages were “very disturbing.”
“(It) makes me sick,” the parent said. “It makes me absolutely sick. There’s stuff about the mentally handicapped in there, gays, Black people. It’s just not OK.”
The parent said she found an unlocked cellphone in April 2023 while mushroom hunting in the woods not far from the elementary school. She went through the phone, discovered who it belonged to, and then saw the text exchanges.
“I didn’t think I’d ever do anything like this with it,” she said. “I only used it this time to get the attention of the school board and administration.”
The screenshots show derogatory and racially charged messages from over five years ago.
The parent said she eventually returned the phone but presented the school board with 11 screenshots of alleged text conversations on Jan. 13, 2025.
This week, the board held a meeting, created a temporary superintendent elementary principal position, and placed Hankins on non-disciplinary paid administrative leave.
While the district superintendent declined to comment on personnel matters, she issued a statement emphasizing the district’s commitment to a discrimination-free environment:
“Memphis Community Schools takes seriously its responsibilities to safeguard, nurture, and develop the children entrusted to us, and we do not tolerate discriminatory behavior by any employee. All employees are expected to treat all others equally and professionally regardless of race.”
When we visited what we believed to be Hankins’s home, someone inside said, “Go away.”
Meanwhile, parents on both sides have created Facebook groups — one in support of the principal and another against her. Some parents said they do not believe the allegations, adding:
“We appreciate the attempt to hear both sides of a story. Ms. Hankins has been disciplined without an opportunity to provide a defense or evidence. Although we would love to share more information about Ms. Hankins’s side of the story, we are not able to do so at this time. However, the real story here is the story of a beloved, highly effective educator who has worked at a district for over 18 years without a blip on her record. A principal who has dedicated her life to a community only to be persecuted in the court of public opinion by a couple of parents who are angry about a decision that was made by the school district regarding their children.“
Others, however, say they are not surprised and believe the district should take stronger action.
“I don’t think she should be working with children — I do not,” the parent said.
