Donelle Evensen this morning announced her resignation as Bunnell Elementary principal five weeks after being named to the position, and not quite three weeks after being placed on leave following her approval of an assembly where faculty segregated Black students, called them a “problem,” warned them of a dire future if they did not shape up, paired them off in a competitive bracket, and bribed them with food treats if they raised their test scores.
Marcus Sanfilippo, the former principal at Bunnell Elementary, will return there as principal pending a permanent appointment, Superintendent LaShakia Moore told parents in an email.
Evensen submitted her resignation letter to the superintendent and included it in a letter to faculty she emailed early this morning. At no point in either letters does Evensen take responsibility or offer any regret for the tenor of the assembly or the misjudgments that led to it–and led to the superintendent, the school board and the community at large to denounce it as unacceptable. The case drew national attention, including articles in the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times and on national television networks.
Rather, both Evensen letters are more focused on Evensen herself, on what she perceives as an injustice against her, and on low test scores among Black students that have to be raised. She referred to the assembly as “positive,” and what resulted from what she calls “this situation” as bringing merely “unfavorable attention” to the district.
“I have not deserved the time of leave that I have been placed on and I certainly do not deserve anything less than the position I currently have as Principal of Bunnell Elementary,” she wrote in her resignation letter. ” I have willingly followed the process for investigation and been as quiet as I can during this process so as to preserve that process, believing that the truth and legacy that I have built would result in restoration of my name and a chance to truly show what BES is capable of under my continued leadership. Since this is not the direction that things are going at this time, I am offering up my resignation.”
The district has been investigating the case but has not yet released the findings. Those findings will be reviewed by a district committee, with recommended actions to Moore (a friend and long-time colleague of Evensen’s going back to their days as faculty members at Rymfire Elementary). Evensen let on in her letter to faculty that “It has come to my attention that the outcome will not be a favorable one at the conclusion of my leave.”
In that letter, she explicitly expressed how she was having difficulty accepting that outcome: “Please know that I have tried my best to make known to district officials the positive manner in which the meeting with African American students took place and reminded them of all that we have already accomplished and the plans for what we would accomplish this school year. Even as I write these words to you I continuously pause because I don’t want to write it down and I don’t want to accept that it is taking place.”
While she does note that she feels “I have failed you and all the great plans that we had,” that acknowledgement was directed at faculty only. “I feel that I am losing a large part of my family by resigning, however it seems that is the only way to preserve my ability to do great work for students moving forward,” she wrote in her more personal note. She did not say how she would continue that work, whether she would be reassigned, or whether she would accept a re-assignment. But she intimated that she was being severed entirely from the district as she offered faculty members her new gmail address: “I have copied and pasted my resignation letter below if you would like to see it. I am sure it will not take long for my flagler email to no longer work so please feel free to email me at my new email address.”
The former principal tells Moore that she has loved Flagler County and “all of the students in it,” and loved her 18-year education career, stressing what she brought to the job: ” There are so many amazing educators and leaders within the district and I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I have been one of them every moment of my 18 years here. I have learned and grown during that time putting back into the district every ounce of my knowledge, dedication, and certainly my time.”
Moore confirmed in an email to parents that Evensen had submitted her resignation. “I know that this has been a rocky start to the year,” the superintendent wrote, “but we as a school and organization are committed to restoring the rest of this year.” Moore was appointed the district’s permanent superintendent by the school board on Tuesday.
Evensen had hoped that the investigation would “result in restoration of my name and a chance to truly show what BES is capable of under my continued leadership,” but sees that as impossible now, and devotes a significant part of her letter to the superintendent to what amounts to a lecture about low Black test scores: “The level of achievement is unacceptable and although some are infuriated with the conversation I am hopeful that those same people and more will become instead infuriated with the data and begin working together to change it,” she wrote, citing figures. She said she was able to raise low scores among students with disabilities, and that the same ought to be done with Black students’ test scores.
“I absolutely hate that in resigning I can no longer work towards this goal in Flagler County, but I am hopeful that the conversation and work is sparked in others,” Evensen wrote, saying “my heart is broken.” Her last request to the superintendent was: “Please reach out to let me know how you would like me to move forward in order to return Flagler County property and determine finances attributed to this resignation.” She signed her name and title as principal of Bunnell Elementary.
BIG AL says
She should not be the fall person. let remove the teacher who also set up this meeting.
Bill Boots says
If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck does no longer mean its a duck, similarly you cannot call a spade a spade…………
Charles says
She has no regrets what she said and done, glad she resigned.
Supporter says
Because she did nothing wrong
Mrs. Kenny says
If she can’t see the problem God help her.
Michael Cocchiola says
My guess is that Principal Evensen did not know the details of the assembly, but she should have. She’s the one in charge, and accountability goes with the job.
So sorry all of this happened, and I sincerely hope she lands on her feet.
Cry More Karen says
Well why would she take responsibility? I believe it’s okay to assume that this Karen is the first one to scream that she’s the victim, all the time. She always wants to see the manager. She always thinks she should get a free pass because she’s a white woman. Why should I think anything else about her? I mean, clearly she must prefer an all white ensemble complete with hood, or does she don the red and black? Assumptions about her should be fine, right? I mean she approved a segregated assembly and assumed that only the black students would grow up to be worthless members of society if they didn’t excel in school. So clearly she’s fine making assumptions about people, so if she can assume it’s only fair I air my assumptions about her.
AC says
As someone who personally knows what you call this “Karen”, I would have you know that she is one of the sweetest. She has a kind and compassionate heart which has lead her to win teacher of the year and assistant principal of the year awards. Her acclamations speak for itself. The assemble was meant to be uplifting of students academic scores and nothing more. All benefit from high test scores (the school, teachers, and students).
Catalino Jacinto says
I’m glad to hear she’s been chucked. Your echo chamber is not a reflection of America. She will forever be known as the clown that caused her own termination. Good riddance.
Deborah Coffey says
An appropriate outcome…but, Ms. Moore was involved in the appointment of Ms. Evenson as principal, wasn’t she? I thought everyone that had anything to do with such a stupid “plan” to raise test scores should have been fired. What a complete and total embarrassment for Flagler County Schools!
JimboXYZ says
“Ms. Moore was involved in the appointment of Ms. Evenson as principal…”
Exactly, this also happened under Moore’s temporary Superintendent tenure. How does one vault to permanence in that position, when they don’t clear the trial period, unscathed by scandal ?
I can’t wait to read the final investigation report on this eventually. They have their high profile resignation. This should be a slam dunk really for an investigation. Dragging it out is just a tactic to smooth the incident over. A hope that Idalia & Lee and anything else will be drawn out distractions to the scandal of the assembly & presentation. Evenson may have approved it, who brought it to the table to be approved. What was Evenson’s involvement in the preparation of the powerpoint presentation ? Was she responsible for reviewing & approving any individual presenter’s content ? All good questions, but not something that couldn’t have been investigated & wrapped up by now ? Someone has to have leaked the results of the investigative effort for a resignation to have happened ? Makes you wonder how much posturing is going on in the background of it all.
R.S. says
We segregate for ill and we segregate for evil; not all forms of segregation are bad. To pay reparations, one needs to segregate people of African ancestry so as to receive benefits. To suppress a group, one needs to segregate by red lining or by other suppression techniques. One is beneficial; the other is decidedly wrong. In my days, one segregated girls and boys to tell them about the birds and the bees at the beginning of puberty. Not all forms of segregation are wrongly intended. What was majorly wrong here was the method of teaching: One does not inspire learners by fear or by stereotype threat. These methods may well lead to the opposite of the intended outcome. Perhaps one can grant the staff of the school the benefit of good intentions yet should fault them for poor methods. But then, learning methods by punishment or threat of punishment permeate our culture ever since we have been reminded to be good or suffer forever in eternal flames of damnation. Perhaps that stance needs reexamination categorically.
Skibum says
I think you put it very well. Let’s hope that however well intended that assembly was meant to be, it will be a reality check and a positive learning experience for all of the educators who had a part in it. It should have been obvious to them that while separating students by grade or by sex for appropriate learning or activities is to be expected, it was a horribly misguided and bumbled catastrophe to only separate out black students for that special assembly. Then they compounded their error by the way their message was delivered to those students, and anyone with a higher education degree and common sense should have been sounding the alarm when that idea was proposed so the unfortunate incident could have been reworked or cancelled before it was approved and implemented.
JoJo Jolley says
She doesn’t deserve all of this! She has been tried and convicted in the press to the point that she has been inundated by disgusting emails and texts from around the world. Your paper has been primary in her prosecution. Should the assembly have happened? NO. Was a mistake made? YES. Is there no longer space for mistakes? Obviously not. Unfortunately, Flagler County school system is too busy covering their own butts to realized they have made the biggest one.
Mark says
Is their a print version of FlaglerLive I’m not aware of? Sign me up if there is.
Mark says
“there”
Ac says
This exactly!
Jim says
Donelle Evensen apparently does not see anything wrong with how the low test score improvement plan was conceived. That is all I need to know to say that she is not the right person for the principal’s job. I wish her well but she did the county a favor by resigning.
I would ask these two questions:
Are there no non-African American students at Bunnell Elementary with low test scores?
Are there no African American students at Bunnell Elementary with adequate test scores?
I’d be shocked to find not a single non- AA child there has low test scores and equally as shocked to find no AA children there with adequate scores.
Poor decisions should have consequences. When you don’t even see your responsibility for this as the leader of the school, you don’t need to be the leader.
Lisa says
My thoughts exactly. Im sure there are other students of other races that are dealing with low test scores. Why didnt they get the same berating??? And yes I call it a berating because no adult should ever threaten a child with death or jail “if that’s the best they can do” and turn around and call it an “assembly”. That assembly did not need to single out one race. They could have easily gathered ALL students with low scores together in one assembly and NOT threaten them with jail or death. All around, how it was done was ill-conceived- I dont care how innocent the intentions were- you have to look at the impact actions will have on people, not your intention. Intentions dont matter – the impact your words and actions have on others is what matters.
Mark says
30 years ago, even 20 years ago, no one would have batted an eye to the content of the assembly. Times have changed though and now a gentler approach has to happen, possibly good intentions yet a bad approach executed. Now all students should have to be included with no one single group highlighted either way, show statistics they can understand and let everyone know help is available if needed. If she’s resigning the other teachers involved in this should be held accountable too. As for the new Superintendent she can’t be everywhere at once so this could be a good teaching moment for all Teachers and Staff as well as all Board Members including the Superintendent. .
Carl Jones says
I’ve been in some high-level “situations” as a senior enlisted member of the military. As a leader, you are responsible for your people, if you lay down the rules and regulations, expectations and rewards/repercussions of the job, there should be no reason to resign. You either stand on your leadership acumen or you don’t. If mistakes are made (by your people) and you can speak to these mistakes and provide corrective actions, there should be no reason to resign. If you have done all you can to address the “situation”, accepted responsibility, and provided corrective actions, there should be know reason to resign.
The only reason a leader should step down from their position is because they don’t want to accept responsibility for their actions, or those of their subordinates. Because their rules and regulations, expectations, rewards and repercussions were not laid out from the start.
The principal, superintendent, board member, cannot be everywhere, that is true, that is why you have assistants, people that you trust to be there when you are not. But these people must know beyond a shadow of doubt that if things go bad, they all bare some responsibility. If things go well, they receive accolades.
In this situation, the Principal is responsible, and should face the repercussions. We all make mistakes, and we all should take responsibility for them and try not to repeat them. If resigning is to escape repercussions, her subordinates involved in the situation should resign as well, but that is definitely not the answer for this “situation”. Investigate, determine fault, provide corrective actions, learn and move on, in my opinion.
DMFinFlorida says
@ Carl – Well said. Coming from a military family myself, I absolutely understand your point. Leaders are ultimately responsible for the actions of those they oversee and become leaders by managing difficult situations effectively and quickly.
Should she be the only one under the microscope? NO, absolutely not. I’ll be following this to see what happens to the others involved. Bad idea, for sure and it has put our little county in a laser beam of scrutiny and ridicule all over the country and even other parts of the world. Embarrassing.
Bye bye says
The tail follows the head and poop rolls down hill. It happened on her watch and she doesn’t see anything wrong. I think that’s the “privilege “ I hear talking.
Ben Hogarth says
I’m finding it difficult to compose myself after reading the entire incident – and worse – the lack of understanding on the part of the offenders how their actions were offensive. I’ve shared this story with colleagues across the state and can’t begin to express the outrage that extends far beyond the borders of Flagler.
Ms. Evensen, you are doing the right thing by resigning at this juncture and sparing the public process anymore frustration. Irrespective of your service and history to students in the county over the years, this decision to segregate black students that performed poorly on tests is beyond reproach for someone with your tenure and position. To make matters worse, the offenses were committed against elementary students, who may not be of “age of discernment” [between what is “right” and “wrong”] and who may be irreparably harmed by the experience. Certainly, as an educator, you must know what I mean. When the system fails a child, it can create a victim for life – and perhaps a chain of victims.
What concerns me further is not your motivations (as you’ve stated them) or your frustration with the educational outcomes of the current system in Bunnel, but your judgement – and that’s not something that can be taught at this juncture. Good judgement comes from wisdom and experience, but also from a nuanced appreciation of people and sensitivities. By your actions and those staff that you enabled, you have shown a great departure from good and best administrative practices. This is not repairable under any current contractual or employment terms – and unlikely to be fully repairable with the community and the members in it, which you aggrieved as an administrative executive and representative of the governing body.
I hope you learn from this experience and pray you find the wisdom to understand why this was so wrong – and others from your mistake. Not just from a moral or ethical standpoint, but a professional one as well. The idea of any person having the myopic perspective you expressed since this incident came to public light would frustrate any parent or public service professional. However, finding the same level of wanton disregard for the public trust and basic protection of minorities in a public administrator is a much greater infringement of a public system already under unprecedented attack from certain elements of modern society.
And it needs to end. It will end.
Celia M Pugliese says
Unbelievable fight for power in the school board other than battling for our students better education. Waste of our high school tax dollars with these 3 charades.
D says
As the head of the school where this happened and to not take any responsibility. Speaks volumes.
If you are concerned about low test scores. You bring together ALL the students that are struggling and not a specific group and that she still targets that specific group in her resignation letter. Is unbelievable.
Atwp says
Were the teachers and the principal wrong? The answer is no.
Jim says
Atwp, well said! That really cleared things up…..