Boyertown School District Principal Under Investigation

BOYERTOWN, PA — A principal at a local elementary school is under investigation by the school district following an incident involving a 7-year-old student.

Christopher Iacobelli, the principal at Washington Elementary School in the Boyertown Area School District, screamed at a young girl who had been afraid to come to school due to bullying.

In a public Facebook post that had been shared nearly 2,500 times as of Friday afternoon, the mother of the girl said she witnessed the incident firsthand after dropping her daughter off.

"This was not just any kind of screaming- this was anger, anger I never knew ANYONE could feel towards a 7 year old," she wrote. "This isn’t easy for me to put into words, I am so angry, disgusted, sick, and just plain in shock."

Boyertown School District acknowledged the complaint in a letter sent home to parents, stating that the matter was under investigation by the district's human resources department.

Iacobelli was assigned to an administrative post outside of the school on Thursday, Superintendent of Schools Dana Bedden told Patch. He will remain there for the duration of the investigation.

In the post, the mother quoted a letter she wrote to the Boyertown School Board which described troubles her daughter had been having recently, including severe anxiety over coming to school due to the bullying. She said that when she dropped her daughter off, Iacobelli assured her that her daughter would be taken care of.

She described the incident which she said she witnessed as she left the school (the daughter's name has not been included in order to protect her identity):

I stopped and heard a mans voice screaming and saw through the glass corridor the principal with *******'s back to the wall screaming in her face. I immediately went back and banged on the door to let me in, they all saw me there and the principal continued screaming in her face not letting me in. I finally buzzed the office, that were witnessing the entire thing. I told them to let me in and they asked what I needed, I told them again to let me in, they buzzed me in and I called to ******* to come to me. The principal began shouting no several times and would not allow ******* to walk past him. I told him I was taking my daughter with me and told her to come to me. She was able to come to me and we exited the school. Upon arriving home, I contacted the state police and while trying to calm ******* down, I noticed what appeared to be identical finger marks on both of her upper arms.

The mother added that she was considering contacting her attorney.

This is a breaking story. More information will be provided as it becomes available.

Patch file photo