Florida principal claims she was forced out over black-pupils-only assembly on improving grades, by Selim Algar, NY Post, September 12, 2023
A defiant Florida principal claims she was forced to resign in the wake of an assembly on poor academic performance that included only black students.
Bunnell Elementary School chief Donelle Evensen stepped down from her post last week after increasing calls for her removal.
According to reports, fourth- and fifth-grade black students were pulled from their classrooms to attend an assembly on poor performance on standardized tests by African American kids.
The students were told they could end up “dead or in prison” if they did not focus on academics and elevate their grades.
Staffers highlighted high-performing black students, telling their peers that they could attain similar results with improved focus.
Attendance, school officials confirmed, was based solely on race.
Black students who passed their state tests were also included in the cafeteria meeting.
According to reports, two teachers, both black, led a presentation stressing that 32% of the school’s African American students passed their math and English exams, according to the Daytona Beach News Journal.
Kids were told they would be rewarded with McDonald’s meals if they hit certain benchmarks.
Parents of kids who were in attendance blasted the assembly, arguing that their children found the experience humiliating.
Danielle Brown, whose daughter was at the meeting, said she was concerned about her daughter being singled out in front of her peers.
“I just feel like you are kind of setting her up to be in a situation to become a victim of bullying,” she told the outlet.
Another black parent told The Post the assembly should never have been held strictly along racial lines.
“Why would you pull a student out of class who passed?” she said. “That makes no sense. They didn’t think this through.”
Evensen — who was in her first year as principal — pushed back on her compelled ouster in a resignation letter.
“I can only hope that due to the unfavorable attention from this situation that a light will be shed and the most important conversation will be unavoidable as to the achievement levels of subgroups of students including African American students and Students With Disabilities,” she wrote.
Evensen had previously been assistant principal at the school for four years and was named Flagler Schools assistant principal of the year in 2022-23.