Amid recent calls to remove North Habersham Middle School Principal Dr. Renee Crandall, two concerned parents say they’re hopeful the issues can be resolved after a meeting with school officials.
On Monday, Elizabeth “Beth” Akin and fellow parent Michael Morris met with Crandall to address what they describe as serious leadership issues during the past school year. The meeting was mediated by Habersham County Schools Assistant Superintendent David Leenman.
“I do think it was a successful meeting,” Akin said afterward. “I have faith in the integrity of Mr. Leenman that the concerns we brought today are really being considered, and we will expect some change in the new school year.”
The meeting followed Akin’s appearance before the Habersham County Board of Education on June 12. At the close of the board’s work session, she distributed a five-page letter detailing concerns shared by multiple parents. The letter included claims of poor student support and described a school environment where, Akin said, teachers felt intimidated and afraid to speak out, fearing retaliation or placement on “development plans.”
“If anyone needs a development plan, it is Renee Crandall,” Akin wrote in the letter, which concluded with a direct call for Crandall’s removal.
Akin said she previously brought the concerns to both former superintendent Matthew Cooper and current superintendent Patrick Franklin. Cooper, she said, offered little response, citing the matters as within the principal’s discretion. Franklin has not yet provided a full reply.
While the school board has not commented publicly, Akin says she remains hopeful that Monday’s meeting marks a step toward meaningful change.
Recess restrictions and added workload draw criticism
Crandall just completed her first year as principal at North Habersham Middle School. She was promoted last year to succeed Adam Bagwell, who took over as principal at Habersham Central High School.
Dr. Crandall served as assistant principal at North Habersham Middle School for three years before
being promoted to principal
. At the time, then-superintendent Cooper said she was highly recommended by colleagues and staff.
It proved to be a difficult transition for some students and staff.
During Thursday’s school board work session, Akin addressed various concerns, including Crandall’s decision to reduce students’ daily “brain break” — designated periods designed to give students time to unwind during the school day.
According to Akin, brain breaks were eliminated two days per week and sometimes were withheld entirely from students with incomplete work, including missing reading assignments. Akin said this led some children to go without breaks for weeks.
The letter also accused Crandall of repurposing morning free time for graded assignments. Students who arrived early by bus were reportedly expected to begin working on Progress Learning, a computer-based program, as early as 7:30 a.m., rather than socializing or reading—an approach that Akin said differed from Bagwell’s.
“There is no time for socialization with the over rigid structure Crandall has installed this half of the year,” Akin wrote. “This approach of additional morning work is detrimental in not promoting reading for enjoyment.”
Band and field trips canceled
The recent resignation of band director Sam Berman was another point of contention. Akin claimed the change in morning schedules stripped band students of their chance for morning practice.
Some parents also claimed Crandall denied students a chance to say goodbye to Berman on the last day of school. They blamed the cancellation of band trips and morning practices for contributing to his departure.
And they objected to Crandall’s decision to cancel multiple educational field trips, including the school’s annual 8th-grade overnight trip and a 7th-grade science outing. According to Akin, Crandall cited lost instructional time due to weather-related closures as the reason for cutting the trips. However, Akin argued that state rules classify academic field trips as instructional time, and the school should have allowed them.
Superintendent Franklin reportedly told parents that trip funding was not an issue and that no requests had been denied at the district level, suggesting the decision to cancel was Crandall’s alone.
Dress code enforcement called ‘discriminatory’
One of the more serious allegations in Akin’s letter concerned the alleged arbitrary enforcement of the school’s dress code. Some parents claimed that heavier-set girls were disproportionately singled out and publicly shamed for their clothing, while thinner students wearing similar outfits were not reprimanded.
The letter included a firsthand account of a student being told by Crandall to “never wear that again,” despite the student reportedly being dressed more modestly than others.
“A teacher I spoke with made the point that heavy girls cannot necessarily help their size, and it is detrimental to their mental health for the principal to point them out during adolescence when, specifically, girls have a difficult time with their image,” Akin wrote. She also noted inconsistencies between the school’s dress code policy and photos in the NHMS yearbook.
During their June 16 meeting with Crandall, Akin said Principal Crandall told them it was never her intention to target any specific child.
Staff morale and climate concerns
In the letter distributed to the school board, Akin cited a staff member who said the environment at the middle school left them “on edge” and that leadership under the previous principal was more motivational and supportive. She likened the alleged sense of “fear” and “intimidation” at the middle school to the current situation at Truett McConnell University in Cleveland.
“Staff instructors at Truett McConnell were dismissed for speaking out about the unfairness of the happenings on that campus, and Crandall has created that same intimidation to our amazing teaching staff at North Hab,” Akin wrote. She told Now Habersham that she and other parents plan to return to Monday night’s board meeting on June 16 to speak about the matter.
Now Habersham made repeated attempts to contact Dr. Crandall to give her an opportunity to address the grievances made public against her. She did not responed to our requests. Dr. Robert Barron was the only school board member to respond to our request for comment, and he deferred all questions to Superintendent Franklin and School Board Chair Russ Nelson. Neither has responded.
