BENTON HARBOR, Mich. The Benton Harbor community is calling for accountability and answers from new school superintendent Dr. Simone Griffin after she publicly confirmed engaging in a verbal confrontation with a student inside Benton Harbor High School.

In a statement, Griffin said, “Recently, I was involved in a confrontation that was both regrettable and unfortunate. As your Superintendent, I hold myself to the highest standards of professionalism and care, and I deeply regret that this situation occurred.”

Griffin also said in her statement that she personally met with parents and students involved to reach a mutual place of understanding and reconciliation. Some are coming forward to claim this is not true and would like to see more done.

The Jax Aspire Foundation, which advocates against barriers to free and appropriate public education locally, released a survey to gauge the community’s reaction following the incident.

Executive Director Tiana Batiste-Waddell said, “We have got to heal the community. You can’t just go back to work. This is not a situation you can just go back to work.”

Parents including Derek Bishop, who spoke at this week’s school board meeting, said they were disappointed to hear what students said they witnessed. “What did they say that they saw happen that day? Basically that there was already a physical confrontation between two students, somehow the superintendent got involved, cursing was exchanged between the superintendent and the student and I do not know who initiated the invitation to physical confrontation, but that the superintendent was welcomed and possibly invited in the confrontation, instead of remain calm, mature and professional,” Bishop said.

One Benton Harbor student posted on Facebook that she was not apologized to and has allegedly been suspended.

Bishop said he is calling on the community to be better.

More than 95 percent of the 21 survey respondents said Griffin should step down or be terminated from the position she has held since August if the allegations are true.

“The response needs to include the community’s voice whatever that response is they need to know how the community feels, and they hopefully will respond, and everybody will be mutual in some kind of way,” Batiste-Waddell added.

The school district refused to answer additional questions and said it would not comment beyond the superintendent’s original statement.