Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Parents, colleagues urge Volusia board to reinstate Tierra T. Small teacher amid dismissal dispute
Loading...
Summary
Multiple speakers at the Volusia County School Board meeting on March 11 urged trustees to reconsider the dismissal of teacher Lakisha Byrd, saying she built programs and relationships at Tierra T. Small and asking the board to review the decision at the March 25 meeting.
Dozens of parents, colleagues and students told the Volusia County School Board on March 11 that the district should reinstate teacher and program leader Lakisha Byrd, who she and supporters say was dismissed after alleged mishandling of a book fair.
Several speakers used the board’s public comment period to describe Byrd’s record at Tierra T. Small and other schools and to ask trustees to reverse a personnel decision scheduled to be reconsidered March 25. Speakers said Byrd created programs that did not exist before her tenure and that students and families were distressed after her removal.
Byrd addressed the board in person. “I sat in a classroom at Tierra T. Small. I sat in a classroom at Campbell Middle School. I sat in a classroom at Mainland High School. I was a school bus driver for 10 years here, and now I'm a teacher,” she said, recounting her longtime ties to the district and school community and disputing the allegations about the book fair.
Several colleagues and family members described Byrd’s contributions in testimony that followed. A woman who identified herself as Byrd’s mother urged the board to investigate and to “make it right for Ms. Byrd.” Colleague Ebonya Newman said an error had occurred but asked trustees to consider “a different outcome than the one that has been posed upon Ms. Byrd.”
A school counselor who spoke said Byrd’s absence had a marked effect on student attendance and school climate. “The impact has not been this profound,” the counselor said, describing increased student absences and reporting that the school library had become underused since Byrd’s removal.
Supporters pressed the board for a reconsideration and emphasized Byrd’s long service, including prior work as a bus driver and teacher. Byrd told the board she hoped trustees would reconsider at the March 25 meeting.
The board did not take action during Wednesday’s meeting on Byrd’s employment status. Several speakers asked the district to review the facts and to restore Byrd to her position; others urged trustees to weigh the community impact before finalizing personnel decisions.
No formal motions were recorded on the public-comments item; the session was a public participation period open to speakers on matters related to district education.
