Prosectutors are not pressing charges against Glen Este Middle School’s assistant principal, Brenda Nesselroad-Slaby. As many of you already know, Slaby had left her two-year old daughter Cecilia in her car for nearly eight hours. She claims to have forgotten Cecilia was in there.

Prosecutors have no evidence to say that the child’s death was anything more than an accident. Cecilia was a very unfortunate victim of circumstance. Her mother was very remorseful and heartbroken.

During police questioning, Brenda broke down. “Good mothers don’t do this,” she said as she wept. “I don’t know how I could live without my kids. They are my life.”

After the police video of the questioning was released to the media, the public began picking sides. Some feel really bad for Brenda and her family. They say she is a good mother and shouldn’t be charged because she made a mistake. They believe she has already suffered enough.

However, other people in the community feel she should go to jail and pay for neglecting her child. They believe that the only reason the police aren’t arresting her is because she is a principal and a higher class citizen. They feel strongly that if the shoe were on the foot of a lower class mother, that mother would be behind bars this very minute.

Curious, I began asking my own teachers for their opinion on the case.

I was able to get an interview with Mrs. Molly Wray, a teacher at Springboro High School. Her immediate response was shock and disbelief. She thought that this was a terrible accident, however she felt the prosecutors jumped too quickly not to prosecute. When I asked Mrs. Wray to explain, she stated that the prosecutors seemed to have given Brenda the benefit of the doubt due to her status and they should have acquired more evidence. Mrs. Wray said she thinks Brenda should take repercussions for her actions, but she says who are we to judge. “There but go before the Grace of God go I,” was the last thing Mrs. Wray had to say.

After talking to Mrs. Wray, I continued my questioning of other teachers. I had the opportunity to get another interview with Mrs. Gail Dauber, who has a law background. When I asked her for her opinion and first reactions on the case she replied that she was surprised. “How can you forget that you have your kid in the car?,” she stated. However, she too believes the incident was an accident based on the news she heard. Though she was still surprised when she heard the prosecutors were not pressing charges. When more news was released she says she understood that they had their hands tied. I asked what she thought would have happened if Brenda was a lower class mother. “Well I would like to think we don’t make decisions to prosecute based on income,” she replied. Her position on the case was very clear. She didn’t feel that the choice not to prosecute was necessarily a good one but she could understand. Mrs. Dauber does still believe that Cecilia’s death was a terrible accident.

It is amazing how one person can gain the support of a group of people who don’t even know her, but then can also become persecuted by others. Nonetheless, Brenda Nesselroad-Slaby’s heartbreaking mistake has impacted us all and left the community divided in a sense. Hopefully, Brenda and her family will be able to find peace and comfort in these troubled times.