Southeast Middle teacher dies in accident

A dump truck collided head-on with a passenger car at approximately 6:30 a.m. on Friday. The driver of the small white car was killed. The accident occured in front of the Carolina Perlite Co. at 14630 U.S. 52 near Gold Hill. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

A dump truck collided head-on with a passenger car at approximately 6:30 a.m. Friday. The driver of the small white car was killed. The accident occurred in front of the Carolina Perlite Co. at 14630 U.S. 52 near Gold Hill. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

A teacher at Southeast Middle School was killed in a car accident on the way to work this morning.

Marilyn Webb taught science and social studies at the school. The accident happened about 6:30 a.m. on U.S. 52 near Old Beatty Ford Road in the southeastern part of Rowan County.

“This is a very, very sad place right now,” said Rita Foil, a spokeswoman for the Rowan-Salisbury School System who was at Southeast late this morning.

She said members of a crisis team made up of counselors from schools throughout the county were at Southeast working with teachers and students.

“They’re getting lots of support,” Foil said.

She said Webb had been employed by the school system for about 20 years, though she didn’t know the number of years she’d taught at Southeast.

“I heard one of the other teachers say she was the absolute nicest teacher here,” Foil said. “That’s the kind of person she was.”

She said a telephone message regarding Webb’s death was sent via the school system’s Connect-ed system. That message was sent to all parents who have students at the school, as well as all educators with ties to the school.

Foil said Skip Kraft, the school’s principal, spoke to individual grade levels to tell them of Webb’s death.

“We’re trying to continue with as normal a school day as possible,” Foil said.

It appears one dumptruck was waiting to turn left into a business driveway when another truck came up behind and swerved around the stopped truck, colliding head-on with the teacher's small car.

More information as it becomes available.