PETITION FOR ACCOUNTABILITY AND CHANGE
Alexandria Middle Magnet School – For a Safe and Professional Learning Environment

To:
Rapides Parish School Board
710 Murray Street
Alexandria, LA 71301

From:
Concerned Parents, Guardians, Staff, and Community Members 

Why We’re Speaking Out
 

Alexandria Middle Magnet School is in crisis.

The 2024–2025 school year has just begun, but staff, students, and parents are already facing intimidation, retaliation, and unprofessional conduct from the school’s leadership team.

The people entrusted to protect our children’s education are instead creating fear and chaos — and the district has done nothing to stop it.

At the close of the last school year, AMMS faculty looked forward to a fresh start. But during a district meeting for lead teachers, we learned shocking news: 

Mr. Dennis Stewart, former Principal of Peabody Magnet High School, and Ms. Jasmine Belmon, his former Assistant Principal, were being moved to AMMS.

Mr. Stewart planned to bring many of his former Peabody staff with him — displacing long-standing AMMS faculty members.

This leadership team has a documented history of grievances from staff and students at Peabody — including reports of unprofessional behavior, a hostile work environment, and intimidation. Rather than address these issues, the district simply moved them to AMMS.

To make matters worse, Mr. Stewart appointed Mrs. Delani Jackson as an Assistant Principal. She had ongoing conflicts with her previous principal at Alexandria Senior High, continuing the district’s troubling habit of placing individuals with known issues into positions of power.

Mr. Stewart has even bragged that he “does not care about a demotion” because his paycheck stays the same — showing a blatant disregard for professional accountability.

Our Concerns
Hostile work environment harming both staff and students.
Retaliatory staffing practices that disrupt morale and classroom stability.
Declining professionalism among newly placed staff.
Lack of transparency and possible nepotism between the Superintendent and Mr. Stewart influencing hiring decisions.

Our Demands

We call on the Louisiana Board of Ethics, the Louisiana Department of Education – District Support Division, and the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to:

Launch a full, independent investigation into leadership practices and workplace culture at AMMS.

Protect staff and students from retaliation, intimidation, and harassment.
Enforce transparent, fair hiring and reassignment policies across the district.

Address nepotism concerns involving the Superintendent and Mr. Stewart to ensure decisions are based on merit, not personal connections.
Take corrective action immediately to restore a safe, respectful, and professional learning environment.

Sign the Petition

Every day we wait is another day our children’s education suffers.

By signing below, you stand with students, staff, and parents demanding change at Alexandria Middle Magnet School.

We need your voice. We need your signature. We need action — now.