BUNNELL, Fla. — "If they're not successful when they are older, they could end up being killed or go to jail."
That was the main message that Flagler County's Bunnell Elementary School pulled its Black students in the 4th and 5th grades out of class to hear, according to parents in an interview with WESH. The assembly took place on Friday, Aug. 18.
According to reporting by the Palm Coast Observer, the students were shown a PowerPoint presentation that included the following statistic: "[African Americans] have underperformed on standardized tests for the past three years... Only 32 percent are at Level 3 or higher."
According to reports, the Black 4th and 5th graders were required to attend the assembly regardless of their test scores or academic performance. In fact, one mother interviewed by the Observer said the school singled out her daughter as a higher-performing student and called her up onto the stage, embarrassing her.
"That is targeting, making it seem they’re better (than the others),” the mother said.
Even the incentives the school offered the students reportedly shocked the parents. As one mother interviewed by WESH recalled, the school essentially offered free fried chicken to motivate the students to do better.
"They want our grades to be higher, and if we get a higher grade, then we will be rewarded with McDonald's or Chick-fil-A," the mom said her daughter told her.
According to parents, the school never told them about the assembly or any such efforts to get students to raise their test scores.
In a statement, the school district's interim superintendent, LaShakia Moore, said she was working with the school's principal to find more appropriate ways to reach out to students.
"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 in the statement. "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."
