The Alamance-Burlington school system dismissed 66 employees – most of whom (57) were substitute teachers who failed to complete the minimum number of required teaching assignments – during the 2025 calendar year.
The 66 employees who were terminated last year represent about 1.7 percent of the total workforce in ABSS, which had approximately 3,873 employees in 2025, based on materials that school officials furnished in response to an earlier public records request by The Alamance News.
ABSS officials have since furnished the newspaper with records of all employees who had been terminated, demoted, suspended, and/or resigned in 2025.
In addition to the 66 employees who were dismissed in 2025, ABSS also suspended a number of employees with and without pay in 2025 (see future installment on this series).
Another 380 ABSS employees resigned or retired in 2025, based on materials that the school system furnished in response to the newspaper’s public records request.
The materials furnished by ABSS indicate that no employees were demoted in 2025.
ABSS fired two employees in 2025 following alleged assaults on students. A misdemeanor charge against one now-former employee has since been expunged; another former ABSS employee received a conditional discharge when her case went to court, meaning the conviction won’t appear on her record, providing she successfully completes 12 months of unsupervised probation. A third employee was fired in connection with an assault during a domestic dispute, though no criminal charge was filed against her, based on Alamance County court records.
Of the 66 employees who were dismissed last year, 57 were substitute teachers, including one person who was employed both as a substitute teacher and a substitute daycare worker.
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Forty-seven substitute teachers were removed from the school system’s “active substitute list” because they hadn’t completed at least six substitute teaching assignments in 2025, according to the form letters they received from the ABSS Human Resources department, which the school system furnished in response to the public records’ request.
North Carolina’s public education laws (and an ABSS policy) require substitute teachers to complete at least six substitute teaching assignments by the end of a school year in order to remain on a school system’s list of active substitutes. Subs who fail to complete six substitute teaching assignments within a school year remain eligible for future reemployment.
Ten student teachers were hired as subs – as part of a university teacher preparation program – for one semester only and were transferred to inactive status in 2025 after completing their assignments, based on the form letters that ABSS sent to each of the student teachers.
Other categories of ABSS employees who were dismissed in 2025 include: two child nutrition assistants and one substitute child nutrition assistant; two assistants in the Exceptional Children’s program; one EC bus driver; one social studies teacher; one instructional assistant; and one school receptionist.
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North Carolina’s Public Records Law requires local units of government, including school systems, to furnish certain personnel information for public inspection, including: name; age; dates of employment; terms of a contract, when applicable; salary; date and amount of each increase or decrease in pay; date and type of each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, and/or separation; date and general description for any promotion; and the date and type of each dismissal, suspension, or demotion for disciplinary reasons.
In the case of dismissals, North Carolina’s public education laws require school systems to furnish a copy of the written notice of the final decision of the board – setting forth the specific acts or omissions that were the basis of a dismissal – for any employees who were dismissed, and that information is classified as a public record under state law.
School board members typically approve the superintendent’s recommendations for new hires, dismissals, reassignments, as well as resignations and retirements following a closed-session discussion at their semi-monthly meetings. Those recommendations are voted on in open session.
One fired for allegedly assaulting a student at South Mebane Elementary
One of the 66 employee dismissals in 2025 had stemmed from a criminal charge for allegedly assaulting an elementary school student, based on materials that ABSS furnished in response to the newspaper’s public records request.
William Thomas Whitehurst had been employed as an instructional assistant when he was charged in September 2024 with misdemeanor assault on a child under age 12 at South Mebane Elementary School. A warrant filed against Whitehurst at the time alleged that he had assaulted the child by “grabbing the victim’s hoodie and pulling up” on it, “causing [the] victim to not breathe easily.”
Whitehurst was captured on video, allegedly grabbing the student, and was placed on paid suspension for three months, starting September 17, 2024, his dismissal notice stated.
He had been employed with ABSS since January 18, 2024.
Whitehurst, whose address is listed on his dismissal notice as 514 West Gilbreath Street in Graham, was transferred to unpaid suspension in December 2024, as part of a “personnel agreement” in which he agreed to remain on unpaid suspension until the pending criminal charge could be resolved.
At the same time, under the terms of the agreement, Whitehurst acknowledged that ABSS officials would review his case to determine whether it would continue his employment.
School officials subsequently concluded that his actions had violated several provisions in ABSS personnel policies requiring employees to: protect the individual’s integrity and reputation, as well as that of the school system; and “attend to the safety and welfare of students” and provide appropriate supervision of students, according to his dismissal notice. School board members voted on June 23, 2025 to accept the school administration’s recommendation to terminate Whitehurst.
Meanwhile, the charge against Whitehurst appears to have been expunged, as there is no record of it on file in Alamance County’s court system. State law provides for the expunction of charges that were either dismissed or resulted in a not guilty verdict, completing removing any record of the arrest and charge from a person’s criminal record, according to North Carolina’s Judicial Branch.
EC bus driver fired for hitting a child
ABSS also terminated an Exceptional Children’s bus driver in September 2025, after she was captured on video striking a child multiple times, according to her dismissal notice.
The EC bus driver, Jennifer Marie Bell was charged on September 5 by the Alamance County sheriff’s office with misdemeanor assault on a 13-year-old individual with a disability, who is identified in the arrest warrant by the initials “K.D.”, by “punching her about her head and upper body multiple times.”
Bell’s arrest warrant doesn’t specify where the assault occurred.
Bell, whose address is listed on her dismissal notice as 1618 Upland Drive in Greensboro, had been employed with ABSS since August 18, 2021 and was paid $16.48 per hour for her duties as a bus driver for students in the EC program.
ABSS officials subsequently determined that Bell’s conduct had reflected “a serious failure to uphold the standards of professionalism required of all school system employees,” in addition to violating several personnel policies, according to her dismissal notice. School board members voted to accept the administration’s recommendation to terminate Bell at their work session on September 9, 2025.
Bell subsequently pleaded guilty to assaulting an individual with a disability in Alamance County district court on November 17, 2025. She was given a “conditional discharge,” which means that if she successfully completes 12 months’ probation, the conviction will be cleared from her record, according the UNC’s School of Government.
Bell is currently scheduled to return to court on November 18, 2026 for a hearing to determine whether she has fulfilled the terms of her probation, according to the court file. She has also been ordered to complete anger management counseling as part of the conditional discharge agreement.
Instructional assistant fired for alleged assault during domestic dispute
ABSS officials also fired an instructional assistant, Amber Fields after receiving a report that she had been charged with simple assault in connection with a domestic dispute which apparently occurred at her home in Mebane during the spring of 2025, according to her dismissal notice. [There is no record of the charge on file in Alamance County’s court system, though allegations of assault and ongoing marital strife are mentioned in her complaint for a divorce, child custody, and a temporary restraining order that remain pending in district court.]
Fields, whose address is listed on her dismissal notice as 1525 Pokie Bare Trail in Mebane, had returned a call to the ABSS human resources department and shared that she had been “charged with simple assault and domestic violence,” according to the dismissal notice she received in July of last year.
Fields was initially suspended with pay from April 21, 2025 through the remainder of the 2024-25 school year.
ABSS officials subsequently concluded that her actions had violated the school system’s standards for all staff members, which requires employees to uphold “an unswerving commitment to honorable behavior,” according to her dismissal notice. School board members voted to accept the administration’s recommendation to dismiss Fields at a special-called board meeting on July 24, 2025.
Fields had been employed with ABSS since December 18, 2017 and received an annual salary of $28,458.20 for her duties as an instructional assistant.
Southeast High School teacher’s contract not renewed, no reason given
Based on the materials that ABSS furnished in response to the public records request, school board members opted not to renew the teaching contract for Matthew LaFuria – the only one of 66 employees fired in 2025 who had a state educator’s license – during the special-called board meeting on July 24.
LaFuria, a history teacher and cross country coach at Southeast High School, was notified on July 24 that he had not been offered a renewed contract for the upcoming school year.
At the same meeting, school board members voted to dismiss LaFuria – while also providing him with an additional month’s pay, for the period from August 15, 2025 through September 15, 2025, the first month of employment for teachers for the 2025-26 school year, according to his dismissal notice, which was signed by school board chairman Sandy Ellington-Graves. LaFuria’s was the only dismissal notice signed by the school board chairman, rather than the assistant superintendent for Human Resources, Yolanda Anderson.
LaFuria, whose address is listed on his dismissal notice as 801 Trollingwood Hawfields Road, Lot 80, in Mebane, had been employed with ABSS since August 18, 2023 and received an annual salary of $49,045.
Receptionist fired for multiple policy violations
Sabrina Crump, of 1414 Beech Drive, Burlington, had been employed as a receptionist at Broadview Middle School when she was initially suspended with pay for 11 days, starting September 11, 2025, and notified that she would be recommended for dismissal by the school board.
Her dismissal notice outlined seven incidents as the basis for the decision, including:
- Failing to notify the school’s principal that a school board member was on campus on August 25, 2025. “It was reported that you informed the principal that a ‘parent’ was waiting to meet, when in fact, the visitor was a board member wearing proper identification,” the notice stated.
- On August 26, 2025, “A parent, supported by another administrator, reported that you addressed the parent in an inappropriate and disciplinary manner concerning a student’s tardiness. This type of engagement is outside the scope of your role…”
- In May and August 2024, Crump prevented staff from entering the building before the start of the workday and clocked in to work before her designated start time;
- In May and November 2023, she was counseled on the need to “maintain a positive tone” when interacting with staff, students, and community members and the need to adhere to her regularly-scheduled hours unless she had prior approval to do otherwise.
“After reviewing the totality of the concerns, [ABSS superintendent Dr. Aaron Fleming] has concluded that your conduct demonstrates a pattern of similar behavior and a lack of improvement,” and he would recommend her dismissal during the school board’s meeting on September 22, 2025, Crump’s dismissal notice stated.
She had been employed with ABSS for 18 years, since October 16, 2007, and received an annual salary of $34,253.78 in 2025, according to the materials furnished by the school system.
Others fired for job abandonment/absences
ABSS fired four employees in 2025 for failure to show up for work and/or excessive absences, including: an EC assistant; a child nutrition assistant; and two subs in the child nutrition program.
Frantzy Jourdain, whose address is listed as 228 Hampshire Drive, Morrisville, was dismissed due to job abandonment after his approved paternity leave ended on February 3, 2025.
Jourdain had been employed with ABSS since September 26, 2022 and received an annual salary of $28,648.90 for his duties as an EC assistant at Broadview Middle School.
According to the materials furnished by ABSS, his supervisor had made multiple attempts to contact Jourdain after he failed to return to work following his paternity leave, but he had not responded or provided any explanation for his absence. School board members approved a recommendation to dismiss Jourdain on March 11, 2025.
ABSS officials dismissed Amelia Mae Burke of 2470 Pepperstone Drive, Graham, from her position as a child nutrition/food services assistant at Southern High School on March 12, 2025 – nine days after she was hired.
Burke’s dismissal notice stated that Burke’s supervisor had unsuccessfully attempted to call her on March 11, March 13, and March 19, 2025, and that neither her supervisor at Southern High School, Patricia Lindley, nor the ABSS Human Resources department had received a response. School board members voted to dismiss Burke on March 28 of last year. Burke’s final pay rate was $16.87 per hour.
The two child nutrition substitutes fired in 2025 were: Nivea Bailey, of 325 Vance Street in Burlington, who was hired on January 23, 2025 at an hourly rate of $16.07 and fired on March 11, 2025; and Consuela Summers, of 2211 Lee Street, Burlington, who was hired on February 21, 2023 and fired on January 27, 2025. Summers’ final pay rate was $17.21 per hour.
The accompanying chart lists the names of the 66 employees dismissed by ABSS during the 2025 calendar year, as well as the dates on which they were hired and dismissed, as well as their final pay rates.
