In a developing story that will be revealed at 11, a local school is being investigated for an event that has startled and upset parents.
Students at Flagler County’s Bunnell Elementary School were reportedly hauled out of class without notice, prompting racial profiling and insensitivity charges.
Concerned parents claim that fourth and fifth-grade African-American pupils were picked out for a school assembly based on their skin color.
Dominique, one of the parents, voiced her displeasure, saying, “It sounded very segregated to me.” When she turned around, all her white classmates remained, but all the black students had left.”
The event occurred during a PowerPoint presentation given by school employees in the cafeteria.
The presentation featured disturbing topics, such as the claim that African-American kids had failed standardized tests over the previous three years.
According to the paper, just 32% of pupils attained the desired competency level in English Language Arts (ELA) and arithmetic, considerably below the school’s objective of 41%.
According to the parents, the presentation went beyond facts and into troubling areas. The school personnel reportedly told the children that failure may have profound implications.
They were threatened that if they did not improve their exam results, they would be arrested, shot, or possibly murdered.
The administration’s reaction to the matter has been criticized. Interim Superintendent Moore and Bunnell Elementary School Principal Danelle Evanson agreed that sufficient contact with parents was missing.
Moore sought to explain, “While the desire to help this particular subgroup of students is to be commended, how this was done does not meet the expectations we want among Flagler schools.”
Parents and people of the community are seeking responsibility and a shift in attitude.
Concerned mom Francine Howard underlined that academic performance should not be linked to race, saying, “There are other kids who are not of any other race – white, black, green, yellow, purple – it wouldn’t matter.”
Many parents think that a more inclusive and helpful approach to addressing pupils’ academic issues should have been selected.
When asked for a response, the district neither acknowledged nor disputed that pupils were separated by race during the event.
Questions concerning whether parents were contacted ahead of time and the contentious remarks made by school employees were answered. However, the district admitted that an active inquiry is ongoing.
While the community awaits additional developments on the inquiry, it is clear that the tragedy has sparked a passionate desire for reform.
Parents agree that no kid should be singled out because of their skin color and that education should be available to everyone.
