Ronan parent under investigation for spanking child at school
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RONAN—Kandi Davis told her son Cody that if he got into trouble again at school, she would spank him. Cody got into trouble and Davis made good on her word, giving him three swats with a wooden spoon in front of his fifth grade class at K.W. Harvey Elementary School. Now Davis is the one who’s in trouble.
Davis is a single mother of two, Cody and a 20-year-old daughter. She also has one foster daughter in her care, who has a five-month-old child. Davis has owned a daycare for 19 years, had her coaching license for 17 years and has had foster children in her care since she was 19. She stands to lose the ability to work and serve in all these positions because she stuck to her word.
“I spanked my son. I did nothing wrong,” said Davis, 42. “My son will not be disrespectful. I am not going to sit back and do nothing.”
Davis did not think she did anything wrong for a few days after the incident. She said she told the people at the front desk why she was at the school and even brought an officer from the Ronan Police Department with her. Davis explained she asked Officer Trevor Wadsworth to accompany her to the school for the same reason Child Protective Services opened a case against her.
“I did not want the school to come back later and try to say I was abusing my son,” Davis said, explaining that Wadsworth served as a witness more than anything.
According to Davis, the principal and the vice-principal of K.W. Harvey watched as she addressed the class and proceeded to spank her son.
Davis thought she had got her point across to her son and his class without any problems. She said no one said a word to her as she left the school.
“It didn’t hurt,” Cody said. “I didn’t want to laugh because I didn’t want to make my mom more mad.”
According to 11-year-old Cody said this was the first time in two years he had been spanked. His usual punishments involve doing chores.
“I got two refocuses (in school),” Cody said, which are statements students write to explain why they got into trouble and how they will improve their behavior. Cody said he and the rest of his class were upset because their regular teacher took an early retirement because of a separate incident at the school. According to Davis and Cody, the students did not listen to the new teacher and got into trouble while attending a field trip, which was the last straw for Davis.
“I was embarrassed. Some of the kids made fun of me saying my mom was mean,” Cody admitted. “She’s not mean. I deserved it.”
Later that week after the spanking Davis received a call from Cody at school.
“Mom, there is a woman here and she put me in a room and asked me all these questions,” Davis recalled Cody saying over the phone. Davis said she immediately went to the school.
The woman, who works for Child Protective Services, had already left the school by the time Davis arrived, so she called her on the phone.
“I told her she no business taking my son into a room and asking him all these questions,” Davis said. “We teach our kids not to talk to strangers.”
On May 20, Davis received a letter on from the Lake County office of the Department of Public Health and Human Services, which heads CPS. It is written in the letter that the department had concluded their investigation of an alleged incident of abuse or neglect involving Cody. According to the letter, Cody’s public spanking was deemed a form of psychological abuse. The charge will impact Davis’ ability to maintain a license in daycare, foster care or coaching.
Davis said she intends to file a letter for a fair hearing to DPHHS, which must receive her written request by June 20 and that she has already started to gather information and support to fight the charge. She said she has been contacted by several attorneys and is researching her rights as a parent.
The Montana Public Safety Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) is also investigating Officer Wadsworth for his participation in the incident.
According to POST Executive Director Wayne Ternes, they received calls from a variety of people regarding the incident. POST is in charge of setting employment, training and certification standards for Montana’s public safety officers.
“If it seems out of the ordinary, we review it,” Ternes said. “I’ve never heard of an incident like this before. That is a strange one…new for us,” he said about the case involving Wadsworth.
Ternes said they have not yet spoken to Wadsworth and are in the beginning stages of their investigation. POST currently has 60 other open cases in Montana.
“The city of Ronan swears that he (Wadsworth) is an excellent officer. Now if there is any liability, that is on the city because that’s their employee,” Ternes said.
Since the charge was made against her, Davis has withdrawn Cody from K.W. Harvey Elementary for the remainder of the school year. She had another off-duty officer from the Ronan Police Department accompany her when she withdrew her son from school. Next year Cody will attend the junior high school. Ronan Schools Superintendant and K.W. Harvey Elementary Principal declined to comment on the incident.
Davis has put her story on her Facebook profile and she said she has received more than 200 letters, emails and posts in support of her disciplinary action.
“The fact that her character is being questioned is mind boggling,” A.J. Fimbres of Ronan said. Fimbres is married to Davis’ childhood friend. “I have known Kandi for over 14 years and my kids just adore her. She has watched my son numerous times.”
“I feel she is in the right as a parent,” Deborah Johnson of Charlo said. Davis attended school with Johnson’s brother and babysat Johnson’s nieces and nephews. “I feel that more people need to step up and parent their children, because if they would we wouldn’t have so many children slipping through the system and so many children causing trouble in town and in their homes.”
Davis, who has retained an attorney, said she intends to fight the charges.
“I will fight it all the way to the Supreme Court if I have to,” she said.
