ABBEVILLE, La. (AP) – A Louisiana school superintendent complained of obscenities and death threats directed at himself, his family and staff on Wednesday after a teacher who questioned his pay raise was roughly handcuffed at a school board meeting and taken to jail.
Superintendent Jerome Puyau said the hate emails and phone calls began pouring into the Vermilion Parish School District soon after videos spread of the arrest of teacher Deyshia Hargrave, whose ouster from the meeting and subsequent arrest shocked the audience and prompted outrage online.
“I’ve stopped reading them because they’re just so bad and disgusting,” Puyau said, at times struggling to compose himself in an interview with The Associated Press. He said the school system offices went into temporary lockdown, and his daughters had to delete threats in their social media.
The turmoil follows the board’s 5-3 vote Monday night approving a new 3-year contract raising Puyau’s salary by roughly $30,000, to about $140,000 annually, with incentive targets that could add 3 percent per year.
He said the raise matches what other school officials make in similar jobs.