BUNNELL, Fla. – The investigation coming to a close into the two Bunnell Elementary School leaders accused of isolating black students in an assembly to discuss low test scores, according to Superintendent LaShakia Moore.
Moore said the administrators are still on leave and the district leaders will provide dispositions and make a final recommendation to the school board on what the next steps should be by the end of this week.
News 6 sat down with Moore on her first official day Wednesday as the district’s permanent superintendent. The board voted her in unanimously Tuesday night.
“You could not have said to me even a year ago that I would be sitting in this place right now as the superintendent for Flagler schools so I was just proud,” she said about getting the job.
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Moore has been with the district for 15 years in various roles.
“They want me to lead the way I have led since I was a classroom teacher. I haven’t changed who I am, what my philosophy is, and how I lead,” she said.
Many board members before their vote said it was her leadership as interim during the assembly controversy at Bunnell Elementary School that really sold them.
Just last week, the district announced it was reopening the investigation and placing the two administrators on leave. It said they are under investigation for holding an assembly with black fourth and fifth-grade students at the school to discuss their low testing scores.
Parents and some school staff accused the leaders of crossing the line by isolating the students.
“There are parents that I still desire to meet with that we’ve exchanged emails back and forth but it’s an ongoing thing for me, those families, and for that school,” Moore told News 6.
Moore said starting Thursday there will be training for district and school leaders following this controversy. Then, teachers will receive it in the near future.
“We really dissect what happened and what was our response and what do we do now going forward to ensure that this is something that does not ever happen again in Flagler Schools,” she said.
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