BUNNELL – Flagler Schools announced on Monday that an internal investigation into recent happenings at Bunnell Elementary School had been closed. No details of the investigation were given, but it is now known that teacher Anthony Hines has resigned his job. This marks the second resignation after that of Principal Donelle Evensen, who signed off on the controversial assemblies in question.
Last month, faculty at Bunnell Elementary School organized an assembly in which Black students were warned of prison and gun death if they didn’t succeed in school. They were placed in an academic tournament for fast food, and students with better grades were used as examples before their peers. Because the groups of fourth and fifth graders reportedly contained students with both poor and stellar grades, seemingly the only unifying criteria for inclusion was race.
The results of the district’s investigation will be made public ten days following its closure, according to a statement from a Flagler Schools spokesperson. This is in accordance with public record law. As the investigation was officially completed on Thursday, the public can expect to know more details on Sunday, September 17th.
Hines’ resignation was turned into the district on Friday, after he was placed on administrative leave in the fallout of the controversial assemblies. Then-principal Donelle Evensen was also under leave when she resigned, saying she’d caught wind the superintendent was preparing to fire her. Evensen maintained in her letter of resignation that she deserved to keep her job, and in the days since her departure her father has started a GoFundMe page titled ‘Unfairly Lost Her Job through Media assault’. The fundraiser asks for $250,000 for Evensen, saying she’d become the “sacrificial lamb on the altar of public & media attention”. So far only $1,100 has been raised.
