By now you may have heard the story of a middle school principal's arrest after allegedly forcing students to fight each other in an empty classroom. Well, tonight we hear the shocking details from the family of one of those students in this Dial Dalfred Report.

EUNICE, La. (KLFY) -- By now you may have heard the story of a middle school principal's arrest after allegedly forcing students to fight each other in an empty classroom. Well, tonight we hear the shocking details from the family of one of those students in this Dial Dalfred Report.

Central Middle School, tucked away in a quiet corner of Eunice, is now home to an active investigation by the police department. Witnesses report the principal, Brett Simien, allegedly enticed two students to fight. One of the students is Brennan Miller.

"The principal had gotten our teacher to bring us to The Focus Room. He made us stand on a white square tile in the room and said, 'fight if you're going to fight'. That's when the kid punched me," said Miller.

The Focus Room, I'm told, is a place for the kids to go and read after breakfast, but on the day in question, it was described as an underground middle school boxing ring, run by the school's principal.

Christopher Miller, Brennan's father, spoke to Dalfred about the incident.

"I feel that he's invoking violence and teaching them it's okay to fight and that's not okay. I don't raise my kids to fight," said Mr. Miller.

Miller was in disbelief when his 11-year-old told him what allegedly happened at the hands of the principal. So, he called Mr. Simien to get to the bottom of it.

"He told me it was a part of his new disciplinary action plan.  I don't agree with that. It's time parents make a stand. They want to stop the violence; we've got to start now," said Mr. Miller.

History is also playing a role in the Mr. Miller's frustration. Simien was the assistant principal at Eunice High School in 2020, when he was charged with cruelty to a juvenile, which involved him allegedly punching his son at their home, battery on a police officer and resisting arrest. 

We asked the mother, Karlie Miller, what she thought about Simien working at another school in St. Landry Parish.

"I absolutely think that it never should have happened. Whether the charges were dropped or whatever the case may be; he still had those charges at some point, and I think he should have never been allowed to be back," said Mrs. Miller.

Principal Simien was arrested Aug. 25 on a charge of contributing to the delinquency of juveniles. And is currently on administrative leave pending an investigation.

I reached out to Mr. Simien who said his council would prefer he not comment at this time.

If there’s an ongoing issue in your neighborhood or community and you need me to investigate, send me an email at DialDalfred@klfy.com.