Sedalia school district responds to petition against teacher’s promotion

SEDALIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An employee's promotion in a Sedalia school is being met with scrutiny.

Sedalia School District released a statement Saturday about the promotion.

According to the statement, Jerry Tankersley, described as an instructional coach at the school, was promoted to assistant principal at Smith-Cotton High School, effective July 1 of this year.

A former student of Sedalia School District created a petition just days ago against the promotion of Tankersley. The petition claims that Tankersley has had inappropriate interactions with students, specifically girls, in his time as a teacher and coach. The petition has more than 1,000 signatures.

The district acknowledged the promotion and the petition protesting it in the following statement:

Earlier this week, instructional coach Jerry Tankersley was approved as an assistant principal at Smith-Cotton High School, effective July 1, 2020. We are aware of an online petition concerning that hire. Our board policy (P 0430) dictates that personnel matters are restricted to closed session of a board meeting.

Steven G. Triplett, Superintendent of Sedalia School District #200

It is unclear if the district is investigating any allegations.