Who is Donelle Evensen? White principal under fire after school calls assembly for Black students to discuss 'low grades'
ORLANDO, FLORIDA: The principal of Bunnell Elementary School in Florida, Donelle Evensen, has grabbed headlines due to her actions that singled out Black students at the school.
The Florida school principal claims that she had to resign after she called an assembly on poor academic performance that only Black students had to attend.
The White principal arranged an exclusive assembly for the Black students, in which they were warned that if their grades didn't improve, they may end up "dead or in prison."
Evensen, 39, claimed in her resignation letter that she resigned because she had been told that the outcome of an inquiry into the assembly would be disastrous for her, as reported by WESH.
She resigned before the Flagler County School District's inquiry into the assembly for African-American kids at the school was concluded and the findings could be made public.
Donelle Evensen has served as teacher and administrator for 18 years
Evensen had only taken over as principal as of the end of 2023. She had served as assistant principal for four years prior, earning recognition for her performance during the 2022–2023 academic year.
She was chosen as Flagler County's Teach of the Year in 2020.
Evensen has spent 18 years with the district as a teacher and administrator. She served as BES's assistant principal for the previous four years, winning the district's Assistant Principal of the Year award in 2016.
In 2019, while serving as a literacy coach at Rymfire Elementary School, she was named the district's Teacher of the Year, per Observer Local News.
Evensen's father Don Evensen even set up a GoFundMe page for his daughter, asking for contributions of $250,000, under the title: "Unfairly Lost Her Job through Media Assault."
According to Don Evensen, the assembly's concept was developed by Black instructors at the school and approved by her predecessor.
What did Donelle Evensen do?
Black students were spoken to in a controversial way at Bunnell Elementary School during the assembly.
The purpose and meaning of calling out Black students separately in a demeaning context and the logic behind creating such differentiation among students along racial lines is being questioned after the incident.
Principal Evensen was compelled to apologize after the event that gained widespread attention for failing to notify parents in advance of the assembly's schedule.
As per Daily Mail, fourth- and fifth-grade Black students reportedly had to leave their classes to attend a presentation about African-American children's dismal performance on standardized tests.
Parents claimed their children were informed that individuals with poorer grades have a greater risk of being imprisoned, being shot, or being killed.
However, if they raised their scores, they would be eligible to win meals from McDonald's and Chick-fil-A.
The assembly was reportedly led by "two Black teachers," who gave a presentation highlighting the fact that only 32% of the school's African-American students had passed their math and English exams.
Donelle Evensen placed on administrative leave
Following the aforementioned incident, the principal of the school, Evensen, as well as one teacher, discovered themselves on administrative leave.
The lack of prior communication with the parents heightened the uproar around the assembly.
Evensen apologized for the lapse and emphasized the value of openness in such situations. The subsequent turmoil has been attributed in part to this breakdown in pre-assembly communication.
Evensen sent her resignation letter email to the interim superintendent of Flagler Schools, LaShakia Moore, and the five members of the school board for the area on September 6.
How did parents react to the 'exclusive' assembly?
Parents of children present at the assembly condemned the incident, claiming that their youngsters found the event humiliating.
Danielle Brown, whose daughter attended the meeting, expressed worry that her daughter would be singled out in front of her peers.
She told the New York Post, "I just feel like you are kind of setting her up to be in a situation to become a victim of bullying."
Jacinda Arrington, another furious parent of a fourth-grader present at the assembly, told Fox Orlando, "Regardless whether she [Donelle Evensen] resigned or terminated, as long as she's not at the school, I'm okay with it."
A second black parent told The Post that the meeting shouldn't have been organized in along racial lines.
She questioned "Why would you pull a student out of class who passed? That makes no sense. They didn’t think this through."