ALAMANCE COUNTY, N.C. — Parents of students at Southern Alamance Middle School received a call Tuesday morning, letting them know of a new interim principal that would be stepping into the role.
The call stated:
This is Public Information Officer, Les Atkins,
We wanted to make you aware that retired principal Donna King has been appointed to serve as the interim principal at Southern Middle School until further notice. Mrs. King brings a wealth of experience and expertise to your school community, having served as a principal in our district for many years. We want to assure you that Mrs. King is committed to providing a stable and supportive learning environment for all students as we move into testing and finish out the year. Mrs. King begins today. Feel free to reach out her or any member of our administrative team with any questions or concerns you may have.
This announcement comes after Alamance Burlington school officials shared updates yesterday on the teacher that was charged with indecent liberties with students.
King is stepping in after Principal, Matt Ritter was put on administrative leave with pay last Wednesday.
It's still unclear why the principal is on administrative leave at this time.
Tuesday, ABSS offered a little more information on Ritter's background at the middle school.
He started back in 2002 as a teacher and became principal in 2021.
The school system said he hasn’t had any reports made against him during his time at Southern Alamance Middle.
The sheriff's office also said currently, there are no charges against him regarding this case.
If you remember, we learned Monday that Spanish teacher and soccer coach, Ivan Ardila-Perez, is on leave without pay.
Ardila-Perez was arrested Wednesday and charged with two counts of Indecent Liberties with a Student and two counts of Indecent Liberties with a Child, according to the Alamance County Sheriff's Office.
Last Thursday, five more students came forward and spoke with detectives regarding their interactions with this teacher.
The sheriff's office said that no other students have come forward that they are aware of.
The students range from 11 to 13 years old. These victims are receiving advocacy services from Crossroads, the local Child Advocacy
Center.
Executive Director of Crossroads, Meredith Peffley said, "Typically what occurs at the beginning of the investigation is we are referred/called by either law enforcement or DSS to help them perform what we call a forensic interview, which is a developmentally appropriate interview for children to kind of understand what happened," she continued, "I think it (Crossroads) is critical for the understanding of any trauma that has occurred and I think that sometimes, especially with parents with caregivers we also provide services to them as well.”
Court documents show that Ardila-Perez is on a temporary work visa from Columbia.
The temporary J1 visa was sponsored through Participate Learning.
We asked Participate Learning what sort of background checks employees go through and they responded by saying:
All cultural exchange teachers undergo a thorough vetting process that includes multiple assessment interviews, professional reference reviews, criminal background checks, additional security checks through Department of Homeland Security systems, and visa approval interviews with U.S. consular officers.