Black students told at segregated assembly in Florida that their grades were a ‘problem’

Some parents claim children were warned that those who underperformed had a higher chance of going to jail, being shot or killed

Black students at a Florida primary school were pulled out of class and told their test results were a “problem” during a segregated assembly.

The children, aged between 9 and 11, were singled out for a presentation on how black students had underperformed on standardised tests over the past three years.

Students at Bunnell Elementary School were selected to attend based on their race, and students who had passing grades were also made to attend.

The incident triggered an angry backlash from parents and an investigation by the Flagler County school district in northeastern Florida.

According to some parents, the students were warned during the assembly that those with lower grades had a higher chance of going to jail, getting shot or getting killed.

The typo-ridden PowerPoint presentation was titled “AA Presentation,” standing for African-Americans.

It had a slide titled “The Problem”, according to a copy obtained by The Washington Post.

“It told my child... the colour of your skin means that you are not good enough,” Jacinda Arrington told a local TV network in Orlando. “In fact, she’s one of the smartest kids in her class”.

Alexis Smith said her son was left panicking after the assembly, and asked his mother if he was “going to die”, “get shot” or “go to jail if I don’t do right?”

Jason Wheeler, the spokesman for Flagler County Schools, said he had no information on what was said in the assembly, specifically the claims that students were told they could end up dead or jailed if they did not perform better.

But officials from the Flagler County school district apologised for the assembly, calling it a “horrible, horrific mistake” that should not have happened.

The school’s principal has been put on paid administrative leave pending an investigation, they said last week.

“The Flagler School Board does not support segregation,” said Cheryl Massaro, the school board’s chair.

LaShakia Moore, the interim superintendent, said that while there was “no malice intended”, the assembly was carried out in a way that did not reflect the district’s values.

She said: “Sometimes when you try to think ‘outside the box’, you forget why the box is there.”

Ms Moore said a community forum will be held this week to address what happened.

It is unclear how many students were pulled from their classes for the presentation, but about a fifth of the public school’s students are black, according to The Washington Post.

The school’s presentation stated that 32 per cent of its black students scored level three (out of five) or above for maths and language arts in standardised tests.

The school noted that 41 per cent should be at level 3 or above, according to state testing guidelines.