Fulton County teacher cleared of wrongdoing in school sit-in

A Fulton County high school teacher suspended in September for allegedly participating in a student sit-in did nothing wrong, an internal investigation found.

Tamra Jenkins spent a week out of her classroom after being accused by Principal Michael Hanson of North Springs Charter School for Arts and Sciences of abandoning her duties to sit-in with students. Jenkins was placed on paid leave Sept. 23, according to the investigative report sent to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Students staged a sit-in that day after a rumor circulated that Assistant Principal Kira Willis told a student that Black Lives Matter was a terrorist organization.

Jenkins told investigators on Sept. 28 that she had been outside the school on an assignment with her third-period language arts students. She encountered the student protest while trying to re-enter the building, but students blocked the stairwell leading to her class.

“She confirmed that she did sit with the students because she felt the situation was not being well-managed, and she was trying to get the student outbursts to quiet down, and to let them know someone was listening to them,” the report states.

According to the report, Jenkins was called to the principal’s office and told not to come to work Monday.

District officials told the AJC Sept. 26 that no teacher had been suspended to their knowledge. On Sept. 27, officials said the principal had not yet responded to requests on the matter. Efforts to reach district officials were not successful Tuesday.

An investigation related to the sit-in determined Assistant Principal Willis had not told a student that Black Lives Matter was a terrorist group.

Willis told investigators Sept. 28 that she was in a meeting at the time she supposedly told the student that, the report states. The student involved in the Black Lives Matter incident told investigators the incident was misconstrued by other students and grew out of control on social media.

The report did not mention Willis being placed on administrative leave.