Teacher handcuffed after speaking out at school board meeting

ABBEVILLE, La. — A Louisiana middle school language arts teacher who spoke out about a superintendent's pay raise at a school board meeting was handcuffed by an Abbeville city marshal after being escorted out of the session, WWL reported.

During a meeting of the Vermillion Parish School Board on Monday, Deyshia Hargrave was addressing the board during a public comments session when she was ruled “out of order” by school board president Anthony Fontana, KATC reported.

KATC, of Lafayette, had a crew at the meeting and was videotaping it, along with another person who shot video, The Times-Picayune reported.

“I have a serious issue with a superintendent or any person of leadership getting any type of raise,” Hargrave can be heard saying in the video. “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."

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Fontana told Hargrave that the public comments section of the meeting was not to be used as a question-and-answer session, KATC reported.

After Hargrave, a Rene Rost Middle School teacher, posed another question, the city marshal on duty escorted her out of the meeting. In the hallway, the marshal placed handcuffs on Hargrave and can be heard on a video telling the teacher to “stop resisting.”

“I am not, you just pushed me to the floor,” Hargrave responds. “Sir, hold on, I am way smaller than you!”

Arrest records indicate that Hargrave was booked into the city jail for “remaining after being forbidden” and “resisting an officer,” reported KATC, which added that the cooperation of the school system was not required for an arrest and the officer could apprehend her on his complaint.

Superintendent Jerome Puyau told KATC on Monday night that he called to ensure that police knew the school system was not pressing charges against Hargrave, but she was booked anyway, records show. She has since bonded out.

Here is a longer version of the incident:

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