When a Cumberland County father picked up his son from school on April 14, he said he immediately noticed something was wrong.
The father said his son’s face appeared red and irritated and that he complained of wheezing and breathing problems. Later, he learned a student had discharged pepper spray inside a classroom at New Century International Middle School.
What bothered him most, however, was not that the incident happened. It was that he says no one from the school called him.
Records reviewed by CityView showed that the April 14 incident prompted complaints from parents who questioned how the school communicated with families after students were exposed to a chemical irritant. The records also showed a message intended for families of students in the affected class was sent to the wrong group of parents, a mistake later acknowledged by Cumberland County Schools.
Law enforcement and the Cumberland County Department of Public Health were not notified of the incident until April 20, six days later.
Pepper Spray Discharged in Classroom
Lindsay Whitley, associate superintendent of communications and community engagement, said in a written statement to CityView that school officials responded immediately after a student discharged the chemical irritant inside the classroom.
Students were removed from the area, the classroom was ventilated, medical guidance was provided by the school nurse, and the district’s Office of Safety and Security was notified, Whitley said.
“Cumberland County Schools takes all matters involving student safety seriously,” Whitley said. “On April 14, school officials at New Century International Middle School responded to an incident in a classroom.”
Whitley declined to provide additional details about the incident, including the number of students impacted by the pepper spray and whether any students faced disciplinary action.
On April 14, a message was sent through ClassDojo—a communication platform used by schools to share updates with families—under Principal Gemette McEachern’s name that provided additional details about the incident. It was the same message later acknowledged by the district as having been routed to the wrong class period.
The message said a student brought pepper spray to school and passed it to another student, who discharged it inside the classroom.
“As a result, several students experienced coughing, irritation and discomfort,” the message stated.
Students were removed from the classroom and relocated while staff ventilated the area before instruction resumed, according to the message.
Parent Files Complaint
The day after the incident, the father submitted a formal complaint to Superintendent Eric Bracy, Associate Superintendent Jane Fields, and members of the Cumberland County Board of Education. CityView is not naming the parent to protect the privacy of the student.
In the complaint, the parent alleged his son suffered facial irritation and breathing problems after the exposure and later sought medical treatment. He wrote that medical providers told him his son sustained a first-degree burn to his face and was wheezing following the incident.
“This incident has caused my child to suffer from skin burns on his face and breathing irritation at which I had to take my son to get medical care,” the father wrote.
The parent said he was never contacted directly by school administrators and instead learned about the exposure from his child.
“What is most disturbing is that parents, including myself, were not notified by the school administration either during or immediately following this event,” he wrote. “I had to learn of this chemical exposure and irritation through my child’s own account and the visible injuries he sustained on his face and his wheezing.”
The father also wrote that students privately emailed their parents seeking help after the exposure.
Whitley, in his statement to CityView, said the school district notified parents of students impacted by the pepper spray.
“On the same day, the families of students who were directly impacted were contacted individually,” Whitley said.
School Notifies Wrong Class
Questions about communication intensified three days after the incident. On April 17, families of students in the third-period class received another message explaining that the initial notification had been mistakenly sent to a different class period.
“The letter below was intended as my communication to you regarding the spray incident that occurred approximately five minutes prior to class dismissal on April 14, 2026,” the teacher wrote. “Unfortunately, it was mistakenly sent to my 4th period Dojo instead.”
Law enforcement was not notified of the pepper spray incident until April 20, six days later, according to Sgt. Alpha Caldwell, a spokesperson for the Fayetteville Police Department.
When the incident happened, Caldwell said school staff cleared the classroom and assessed students for medical needs. One student reportedly complained of throat irritation and red eyes.
“The incident was handled administratively by the school on April 14, and law enforcement was not notified that day,” Caldwell said.
The matter was later reported to the School Resource Officer unit on April 20. Caldwell said school officials then provided information, including the name of a student possibly involved in the incident, and officers assisted with a follow-up investigation.
Caldwell said any disciplinary actions involving students were handled by the school and Cumberland County Schools administration.
More broadly, Caldwell said incidents involving chemical irritants on school campuses can carry both school and legal consequences.
“The possession or deployment of pepper spray or other chemical irritants on a school campus may result in both school disciplinary action and potential criminal investigation depending on the circumstances of the incident,” he said.
In a written statement to CityView, the Cumberland County Department of Public Health also confirmed it first learned about the incident on April 20 through the school district’s health services director.
Public health officials noted that schools are not required to report pepper spray incidents to the health department.
The agency said its involvement in school exposure incidents typically depends on the severity and scope of the event.
“School staff make notifications when there is a potential public health concern involving students who may be experiencing symptoms related to shared exposure, particularly if the exposure is ongoing, severe, or widespread,” the department said.
Public health officials said schools generally follow established emergency response procedures after an irritant exposure, including removing individuals from affected areas, assessing symptoms, and referring students for medical evaluation when appropriate.
The department also confirmed that nursing supervisors reviewed the incident and determined the school nurse provided appropriate support to school staff.
Parents: Questions Remain About Incident
For some parents, the district’s acknowledgement that the wrong class was notified did not fully addressed concerns about how the incident was handled.
One parent whose child attends the school said she was particularly concerned because some students at the school have medical conditions that could make them more vulnerable to chemical exposures.
She said parents were not informed that students had been exposed to a chemical irritant before children were allowed to return to class. CityView is not naming the parent to protect the privacy of the student.
“We have students who are on record in the school as having anaphylactic issues with things like chemicals, and we weren’t even informed that our kids were exposed to it, and they were brought back to class the same day,” the parent said.
The parent questioned whether school staff could adequately determine the room was safe to reoccupy so quickly after the exposure.
“I don’t know how anyone could determine if a chemical substance was properly removed from the surfaces of a classroom in 15 minutes,” she said.
More broadly, she said the incident raised concerns about how families are notified when safety incidents occur on campus.
“If my child is in a building and a weapon is brought and discharged—I understand it’s not a gun, but do we wait until it is a gun?” she said.
In a follow-up email sent to district leaders on April 17, the father who filed a complaint said the district’s acknowledgement of the communication error did not resolve his concerns.
“This matter should not be swept under the rug. Parents should have been individually called, not by a ClassDojo which even failed to inform,” he wrote. “My son and other students required medical attention.”
