A Florida elementary school "isolated" a number of Black students, pulling them out of class and forcing them to attend an assembly about improving standardized test scores.
According to Fox35, fourth and fifth-grade students at Bunnell Elementary School in Flagler County, Florida were taken out of class earlier this month for an assembly in the cafeteria without parents' knowledge.
During the assembly, students who performed well on tests were used as model examples as teachers discussed scores and offered restaurant gift cards to improve them.
Cheryl Massaro, the Flagler County Schools board chair, confirmed that Black students were "isolated" for the assembly, which she said should have never happened.
Interim Superintendent Lashakia Moore addressed the assembly in a statement on the district’s website, saying she discussed the incident with Bunnell Elementary Principal Donelle Evensen.
"In speaking with Mrs. Evensen, it is clear there was no malice intended in planning this student outreach. However, sometimes, when you try to think ‘outside the box,’ you forget why the box is there," Moore said. "While the desire to help this particular subgroup of students is to be commended, how this was done does not meet the expectations we desire among Flagler Schools."
"All of our schools will engage our parents, no matter what group or subgroup their children may be in, in our continued efforts to raise achievement among all students," she added.
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