NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Nashville Banner) — This story was originally published August 25, 2026 by the Nashville Banner. Sign up for their newsletter.
The principal of a Nashville elementary school was arrested in Sumner County last week on a domestic aggravated assault charge after an alleged incident involving her 13-year-old son.
Janelle Brooks, who has been the principal at Warner Elementary School in East Nashville since 2023, is on administrative leave “pending the outcome of an external investigation,” according to an email sent to parents by Metro Nashville Public Schools on Aug. 21.
“The matter involving Dr. Brooks is unrelated to her work as principal or to the operations of Warner Elementary,” the message said. “Because this is an ongoing personnel matter, we are unable to provide additional information at this time.”
District spokesperson Sean Braisted declined to add further comment.
According to an arrest affidavit filed in Sumner County Criminal Court, Brooks’ ex-husband told Portland police on Aug. 20 that he was concerned for his children’s safety when they were with Brooks and her boyfriend. The 13-year-old boy reported to officers that he was forced to sleep on the hard floor with a blanket while at his mother’s house. He also said, according to the affidavit, that a few days earlier Brooks had ordered him to leave the house without any clothes and struck him repeatedly with a paddle before grabbing him by the neck.
When two officers interviewed Brooks, the affidavit says she acknowledged the incident had occurred.
“Mrs. Brooks stated that her son, the thirteen year old, had disrespected her,” the affidavit reads. “Mrs. Brooks stated further that she had grabbed a paddle to discipline her son, to which she said he had responded ‘you're not going to paddle me’. Mrs. Brooks stated that she told her 13 year old son that he could get out then. However she was not allowing him to leave with any items she had personally purchased for him, so her 13 year old son was only now in his underwear.”
Brooks reportedly went on to tell officers that she went to grab her son’s neck because he had “swelled up at her” and that her son grabbed both of her arms to try to stop her.
After taking her statement, officers arrested Brooks. She was released on bond, with conditions including GPS monitoring and an order to have no contact with her son or ex-husband. She is scheduled to appear in court in Sumner County on Sept. 4.
This article first appeared on Nashville Banner and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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