69´«Ã½

Law & Courts

Florida District to Pay Teacher at Center of Black Lives Matter Flag Controversy $300,000

By Emily Bloch, The Florida Times-Union — August 17, 2021 1 min read
081721 Duval 69´«Ã½ BLM Teacher TNS BS
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

The Duval County School Board will pay a $300,000 to settle a lawsuit from earlier this year.

Amy Donofrio, a former Riverside High School (then Lee High) teacher, said she was unfairly removed from her teaching position in March. She made national news, saying administrators told her to take down the Black Lives Matter flag that had been hanging over her doorway. After she refused, the district temporarily reassigned her to warehouse operations and said she was being investigated for “several matters.â€

The Southern Poverty Law Center — who represented Donofrio — said the reassignment was an effort on the school district’s behalf to “retaliate†against the teacher and also violated her right to free speech.

This month, the Duval School Board voted to that would prevent the case from a years-long court process that could potentially cost millions of dollars.

“Though we know we haven’t done anything wrong, these are taxpayer dollars,†board member Warren Jones said at the time.

Separately, Donofrio’s teaching contract was not renewed with Duval 69´«Ã½.

Now, new details from a public records request show that the school board agreed to pay a $300,000 settlement with $240,000 going to Donofrio and the remaining $60,000 to her attorneys.

As part of the agreement, Donofrio cannot apply for reemployment within Duval 69´«Ã½. According to the document, the school board had not concluded its disciplinary investigation into Donofrio. Now that the case has been settled, the investigation will not be concluded. The Times-Union has requested initial findings from the investigation.

Donofrio said she is “devastated†to not be able to return to the classroom. She’s been teaching for over a decade and was well known for her work with the — a group she co-founded that works primarily with at-risk students.

Copyright (c) 2021, . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Law & Courts Court Battles and Presidential Election Have Big Implications for Title IX Regulation
A federal appeals court heard arguments about whether some provisions of the Title IX regulation should be allowed to go into wider effect.
4 min read
Image of a gavel
iStock/Getty
Law & Courts Top Affirmative Action Foe Has New Target: Scholarships for Aspiring Minority Teachers
The legal activist behind the U.S. Supreme Court college admissions decision has now sued over an Illinois minority scholarship program.
3 min read
A picture of a gavel on a target.
Bill Oxford/Getty
Law & Courts This State Requires 69´«Ã½ to Teach the Bible. Parents and Teachers Are Suing
Opponents of an Oklahoma directive that compels schools to teach the Bible are suing the state’s superintendent of public instruction.
4 min read
Image of a young boy pulling the bible off of a bookshelf.
D-Keine/E+
Law & Courts States Sue TikTok Over 'Addictive' Design Features. What That Means for 69´«Ã½
The lawsuits are the newest fight targeting social media platforms' algorithms.
3 min read
The United States government laws on certain social media applications such as TikTok
iStock/Getty