Louisiana School Board Receives Death Threats After Protesting Teacher’s Arrest News Spreads

A school board office in Louisiana was shut down temporarily Tuesday due to numerous death threats it received after a video of a teacher getting arrested from a board meeting went viral.

According to a report by CBS News, which cited a report by the Advertiser, Vermilion Parish School Board President Anthony Fontana said the threats came from faraway nations such as South America, Australia and the United Kingdom, along with from numerous states within the U.S.

Fontana said, “I told my staff not to answer the phone unless they knew who it was.”

“My staff was scared to death, because they got a call that a man said he was on his way to the school board office, making threats,” he added.

He added the incident was reported to the FBI and the local police.

The report further stated that the school board has decided to not file any charges against middle-school English teacher Deyshia Hargrave.

After she questioned pay policies during a public comment period Monday, Hargrave was removed from the board meeting, forcibly handcuffed by an officer and jailed. "What are you doing?" Hargrave is heard saying as she was being led away in cuffs. The officer says, "Stop resisting," and she replies, "I am not! You just pushed me to the floor."

According to a report by ABC-affiliated TV station KATC, IIke Funderburk, Abbeville's city attorney and prosecutor, said he won't be prosecuting Hargrave.

"I have reviewed the video and I am not going to approve any charges against the teacher," said Funderburk.

"I talked with the attorney for the school board, and they do not wish to pursue any charges against the teacher,” he added.

Jerome Puyau, the superintendent of the board, whose pay raise was the topic of discussion in the board meeting, stated that he was receiving endless hate emails and phone calls after the incident, the Associated Press reported.

"I've stopped reading them because they're just so bad and disgusting,” said Puyau.

In a telephonic interview given to the AP, Laura LeBeouf, one of the school board members, said there have been several instances when women were asked to leave board meetings when they spoke out, while male members were not subjected to the same.

"Women in this parish are not getting the same treatment," said LeBeouf.

In the video footage released Monday, Hargrave, a teacher of English language arts at Rene Rost Middle School in Kaplan, is seen getting arrested by an Abbeville city marshal, who also handcuffed her in the hallway of the school building.

The arrest was triggered by Hargrave's protest against the pay raise being given to Puyau; she claimed teachers were not getting a similar increase in their salaries.

Hargrave stated, “I have a serious issue with a superintendent or any person in a position of leadership getting any type of raise.”

"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,” she added.

Hargrave also directly aimed a question at Puyau saying, “How are you going to take a raise?"

One of the board members said to Hargrave, “Stop right now, that's not germane to what's on the agenda tonight.” This was met with a widespread response from across the room where numerous teachers replied by saying, “Yes, it is!”

When Hargrave continued to talk about the issue, the marshal told her she could leave on her own or be removed. “Take your things and leave."

Hargrave refused and was expelled and arrested.