A Flagler County Public Schools teacher who led an assembly last month that singled out Black fourth- and fifth-grade students at a Florida elementary school, telling them to improve their school performance, has resigned, according to a school district spokesperson.
“Donelle Evensen, principal at Bunnell Elementary School, has informed Superintendent LaShakia Moore that she is resigning,” the district said Thursday in a news release.
Evensen and a teacher were placed on administrative leave days after the August 18 assembly that singled out African American students from the two grades, CNN previously reported.
During the assembly, a 2023-2024 school year goals and objectives PowerPoint presentation was used that read, in part, “AA have underperform (sic) on standardized assessment for the last past 3 years,” Cheryl Massaro, Flagler County School Board chair, told CNN in an email last month.
Massaro also said the abbreviation “AA” stood for African Americans.
News of the assembly sparked outrage among parents in the district, who were upset that only Black children had been required to attend the meeting, regardless of their academic performance.
Superintendent Moore apologized to students and their families at a news conference last month.
“It is my responsibility to identify, ‘Why did this happen?’ We do have an investigation that is ongoing at this time, and we will continue to move forward as we get additional information at the conclusion of the investigation,” Moore said.
On Thursday, the district said that probe is ongoing.
“The investigation into the assembly at Bunnell Elementary has not been completed as of this morning. Superintendent Moore expects that to be complete this week,” the statement said.