The Duval County Faculty Board will shell out a former high college teacher who displayed a Black Life Matter flag in excess of her classroom door $300,000 to settle a lawsuit from earlier this 12 months.
Amy Donofrio, a former Riverside Substantial Faculty (then Lee Significant) teacher, explained she was unfairly taken off from her training placement in March. She created countrywide news, saying administrators explained to her to acquire down the Black Lives Make any difference flag that had been hanging about her doorway. Soon after she refused, the district quickly reassigned her to warehouse operations and explained she was currently being investigated for “several matters.”
Teaching is “my life, my heart”:Duval County instructor Amy Donofrio terminated, settles lawsuit with school district
Cost-free speech lawsuit:SPLC sues Duval Colleges on behalf of teacher taken off for refusing to get down Black Lives Subject flag
Additional:EVAC Motion leader Amy Donofrio taken off from classroom for ‘several matters’
The Southern Poverty Legislation Middle — who represented Donofrio — stated the reassignment was an hard work on the college district’s behalf to “retaliate” against the instructor and also violated her correct to absolutely free speech.
This thirty day period, the Duval School Board voted to reach a settlement with Donofrio that would avoid the case from a a long time-very long courtroom system that could possibly cost millions of pounds.
“Though we know we have not performed nearly anything mistaken, these are taxpayer dollars,” board member Warren Jones stated at the time.
Individually, Donofrio’s teaching deal was not renewed with Duval Universities.
Documents exhibit that the faculty board agreed to pay a $300,000 settlement with $240,000 likely to Donofrio and the remaining $60,000 to her attorneys.
As component of the agreement, Donofrio can’t implement for reemployment within just Duval Universities. In accordance to the doc, the school board experienced not concluded its disciplinary investigation into Donofrio. Now that the scenario has been settled, the investigation will not be concluded. The Situations-Union has requested preliminary results from the investigation.
Donofrio mentioned she is “devastated” to not be capable to return to the classroom. She’s been instructing for about a ten years and was effectively regarded for her function with the EVAC Movement — a team she co-started that will work primarily with at-danger learners.
Emily Bloch is an education reporter for The Florida Periods-Union. Follow her on Twitter or electronic mail her.
