A former Jacksonville high school teacher who was terminated earlier this year after settling a federal free-speech lawsuit against the district for $300,000 repeatedly exercised poor judgment and ignored administration directives, according to a district investigative report.
The redacted report authored by Reginald Johnson of the district’s Office of Equity and Inclusion/Professional Standards was obtained through a Florida Record public records request. Dated March 24, the report describes “substantiated” incidences of former teacher Amy Donofrio refusing administrative requests to take down a Black Lives Matter flag in a hallway outside her former classroom at the former Robert E. Lee High School.
When the administration ultimately took down the flag, Donofrio hung a sign saying “Lee admin took down Black Lives Matter sign last night,” the report says. The school’s principal later outlined in writing that school staff should not express political viewpoints on school property.
She also erred by engaging in inappropriate communications with students when she offered to give them extra credit for non-curriculum-based activities in violation of the principal’s policies, according to the investigation.
“Ms. Donofrio engaged in poor judgment when she changed a student’s grade … when the student received ‘extra credit’ for performing one or more non-curriculum-based activities,” the report says.
The non-curriculum-based assignments included the opportunity to attend community meetings about the proposed name change of Robert E. Lee High School and to wear “I am not a gang member” clothing for yearbook pictures, according to the report. The school is now called Riverside High School
Donofrio was also accused of showing poor judgment when she allowed an unauthorized visitor on the campus and inside a school building.
The report contains Donofrio’s responses to the investigation, which appeared to be written up in August. She denies the basis of the allegations, arguing that the incidents were trumped up and based on hearsay testimony.
The school principal did not order her to take down the flag, so the incident did not amount to insubordination, Donofrio said. Administrators simply told her that if she did not remove the flag, the custodial staff would do so.
In addition, the school district’s own policy indicates that Black Lives Matter is not a political issue and that her placement of the flag was simply an attempt to make Black students feel more comfortable and safe in her classroom.
She also criticized how she was not offered a chance to counter the allegations until well after Florida Department of Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran announced Donofrio would be terminated.
The allegation that she allowed an unauthorized visitor onto the campus was “absurd” because other teachers regularly bring friends and family members to their classrooms during off-hours, with no repercussions, Donofrio said.
The charge that she changed a student’s grade after giving the student a non-curriculum-based extra credit assignment is false, Donofrio said, noting that the investigation produced no hard gradebook evidence of such a grade change.
The school’s 248-page conclusions and exhibits did not amount to a true investigation, she said, and she never had a true opportunity to respond to them prior to her dismissal.
“That is because Commissioner Corcoran and DCPS’ decision to terminate me was a foregone conclusion for some time, and it was their final act of retaliation and harassment against me,” Donofrio said.