A teacher from the Vermilion Parish School System was arrested Monday night during a school board meeting, according to KATC in Louisiana. In a video posted to YouTube, which also circulated on Reddit, a local marshal is seen escorting Deyshia Hargrave out of the meeting before placing her in handcuffs and removing her from the building.
Hargrave teaches English language arts at Rene Rost Middle School. The school board kicked the teacher out after she posed a series of questions regarding teacher salaries during the public comments segment of the meeting. Before her arrest, she told the superintendent it was “a slap in the face” that he recently received a raise, when teachers and other staff haven’t seen a raise in years. The board president Anthony Fontana ruled Hargrave out of order, leading to her interaction with the district's marshal.
Though no charges were brought against her, Hagrave was booked in jail for remaining after being forbidden and resisting an officer. She is now bonded out. Though Hargrave was held in a Abbeville jail, the Abbeville PD is responding to calls about the case by emphasizing that they are not responsible for the arrest. “The Abbeville Police Department did not arrest the teacher,” the department said. “The Abbeville Police Department has received numerous emails and phone calls about the arrest, but all questions concerning this incident should be made to the Vermilion Parish School Board."
In comments on YouTube and Reddit, viewers are distributing the school district’s phone number and encouraging people to call about Hargrave's case. “It's absolute bullshit how badly teachers are treated,” @IAmBecomeCaffeine wrote. “Education is critical to the well-being of a country, yet we can't seem to pay them a decent salary, let alone give them a raise to at least keep up with inflation.”
