A Louisiana teacher was arrested after speaking out during a school board meeting about the district superintendent’s pay raise. Deyshia Hargrave, 32, is a teacher who works at Rene Rost Middle School in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. She was taken out of a school board meeting in handcuffs Monday night after voicing her frustrations over the superintendent’s $38,000 pay increase and 3-year-contract expansion. She said that teachers haven’t received a pay bump in years and, “I feel like it’s a slap in the face to all the teachers, cafeteria workers and any other support staff we have. We work very hard, with very little, to maintain the salaries we have.”
What Happened?
On Monday night, Hargrave ended up in handcuffs as a result of her conduct during the school board meeting. According to KATC-TV, Hargrave first addressed the school board to discuss teacher salaries and pay raises during the public comments section of the meeting. After asking several questions, the board president Anthony Fontana attempted to silence Hargrave, ruling her questions to be out of order, saying that the public comments section of the meeting was not a Q&A session. When Hargrave was called on a second time to speak, she still asked questions, which resulted in her being removed from the meeting by an Abbeville city marshal.
Here’s a look at Deyshia Hargrave being removed from the school meeting, placed in handcuffs, and escorted from the building:
According to KATC, the teacher was then booked into the Abbeville city jail. She was charged with remaining after being forbidden and resisting an officer. However, she is now free from jail after posting bail. The school board spoke with the news station, KATC, and informed them that they will not be pressing charges against the teacher. Although, they didn’t clarify whether or not charges will be dropped pertaining to her arrest Monday night.
School board member Kibbie Pillette informed KADN-TV that during the meeting, the board voted by a 5-3 margin to grant the Vermilion Parish superintendent Jerome Puyau a 3-year contract extension, along with a $38,000 raise. During the meeting, Hargrave questioned the board’s decision to give a pay raise to the superintendent when the teachers haven’t received a pay bump in years (according to this teacher’s statement).
“I have a serious issue with a superintendent or any person of leadership getting any type of raise,” said Hargrave when addressing the school board, in a the video posted by Chris Rosa. “I feel like it’s a slap in the face to all the teachers, cafeteria workers and any other support staff we have. We work very hard, with very little, to maintain the salaries we have.”
Several other teachers were also in attendance and were also frustrated over the superintendent’s pay raise, according to a report.
The outspoken teacher who was arrested is an English language arts teacher at Rene Rost Middle School. The school district and other authorities have yet to comment on the arrest of this teacher. The embattled professor, Deyshia Hargrave, also hasn’t commented on the arrest.
Here’s the full video of the incident involving Deyshia Hargrave:
