FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – The principal and a teacher of Bunnell Elementary School have been put on paid leave while Flagler County’s school district investigates a recent and controversial student assembly.
Donelle Evensen was put on administrative leave pending an investigation into an assembly last week that allegedly singled out low-scoring Black students in the fourth and fifth grades. Teacher Anthony Hines was also put on leave.
Interim Flagler County Superintendent LaShakia Moore held a news conference Thursday to address Bunnell Elementary families, students and staff, apologizing to them and appealing for their partnership moving forward.
“I am not deflecting this. I own this, but I have been a longtime educator here in Flagler Schools, I am committed to the success of these students not only because I am an educator but because I’m a member of this community. So I need you as a community member, I need every community member, I need our business partners, I need our faith base — I need everyone to come together, one, around (having) a hard conversation. Let’s identify what happened here and what we need to go forward, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to educate students and I’m going to need you to do that,” Moore said.
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Evensen will remain on leave until the investigation is completed and reviewed, according to Flagler County School Board Chair Cheryl Massaro.
Massaro described the controversial assembly to News 6 earlier this week, saying it was comprised of “African American students (who) scored below a three on testing.”
Though allegedly aimed at motivating said students to work harder in school, Massaro said the assembly never should have happened the way it did.
“It should not have happened. Flagler schools does not support, you know, segregation,” Massaro said. “Bring them all in, bring them all in. That’s all that matters, bring them all and talk to all of them. Give them all the same supports. Don’t isolate it to one subgroup, and that’s when the line got crossed.”
In a presentation used at the assembly and since provided to News 6, a slide titled “The Problem” states, in part, “AA have underperform (sic) on standardized assessment for the last past 3 years.”
We’ve asked district officials what the text “AA” means in the slide. Massaro said that it was an acronym of “African American.”
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At the conference Thursday, Moore confirmed that some parents of Bunnell Elementary students had since requested that their child be transferred to a new school in light of the assembly, yet there are others, she said, who wished to stick around.
“So, I have had families that did ask that question. We have open choice here in Flagler County and so those families that want that, we will help to assist that. The majority of the families that I’ve spoken to, they have been longtime people at Bunnell Elementary School and they know the heart of the educators there, and those families are not wanting to just make that decision. They are wanting to stay where they know that their children are loved, that their children are getting a great education. They are wanting to stay there and so we have had some families that ask that question, but the majority of them, they are confident in the work that has been done and they’re confident in the support that we provide as a district to help us move forward,” Moore said.
Jacinda Arrington and her sister, Alexis Smith, both have children who were in the assembly. They said their children have been negatively impacted by the ordeal.
“When it’s time to go to school, it’s like, ‘Mommy, do I have to go,’” Smith said. “‘I don’t want to be here. I’m uncomfortable.’ And it’s like, I understand. So now we have to continue to affirm them more than we already do.”
When Arrington and Smith found out about the assembly, they were furious.
“It’s not just our kids that are affected,” Arrington said. “Our kids have white friends, Hispanic friends. They have, you know, friends of all ethnic backgrounds and they, too, have been affected.”
Moore said she’s focusing on working with families to try and find ways to move forward.
“This is a bad thing, but we as a community, we have to make sure that we are doing everything in our power to make sure we get back to the heart of ensuring that our students have the best education possible,” Moore said. “And that’s for all of our students.”
A PTO meeting is set to take place at Bunnell Elementary Thursday evening at 5:00 p.m. though it’s not clear if any school officials will be there or what will be discussed.
Moore released a video Wednesday afternoon in which she apologizes to the community, the students and their families, touching more closely on the allegations of segregation at the assembly.
“Students should never be separated by race. We acknowledge that this and other subgroups of students must improve, but our commitment is improved academic achievement for all students,” Moore said. “As the superintendent of Flagler Schools, I apologize for any disruption to our progress this has caused and I ask for your support as a greater community moving forward.”
In an earlier statement, Moore wrote that she had spoken with the school’s principal and promised to continue working with her toward finding “more appropriate ways” to raise achievement on campus.
“In speaking with Mrs. Evensen, it is clear there was no malice intended in planning this student outreach. However, sometimes, when you try to think ‘outside the box,’ you forget why the box is there,” the statement reads.
Moore at Thursday’s conference said Flagler Schools would offer a community forum on Tuesday, Aug. 29, which will include the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the African American Mentoring Program and other local organizations. News 6 is working to confirm the time and place.
Watch the conference again in the media player below:
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