Former Mayport teacher submitted resignation ahead of alleged Anti-DeSantis protest with students

New emails obtained by Action News Jax show the school board member representing Mayport Middle School was not told by the district about an incident involving a teacher who allegedly planned a protest with students.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

The email exchange between that member and the district superintendent also confirmed some of the details we heard from a parent two weeks ago.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

At that time, we spoke with Mike -- a parent who has alleged his daughter was among five students coerced by their science teacher to stage a protest against new curriculum restriction and transparency laws.

He claimed the plan involved students bringing baseball bats to the school.

“They were going to go into the library where the books are currently covered with parchment paper that’s been painted over and designed by their art department at the school, destroy something in there and then put up a protest sign,” Mike said.

New emails between School Board Member April Carney, who represents Mayport Middle’s district, and Superintendent Dr. Dianna Greene, reveal the district didn’t even tell board members about the incident until after our first story aired.

The district also claimed the covered bookshelves were part of an art display and unrelated to the vetting of books.

Additionally, the email exchange confirmed the teacher had already planned to resign before the planned protest was foiled by a student who came clean to their parent.

Read: St. Johns County School District updates list of removed books

It’s a detail Mike had told us, but the district declined to confirm when we asked 11 days ago.

“The plan ultimately was for these children to take the fall for a political statement for this guy and he was gonna exit with absolutely no accountability,” Mike said.

Twice now we’ve attempted to reach the teacher at his home address and have also texted and called him to no avail.

The district has said it’s investigating the incident, but still refuses to offer any more details like whether the teacher told students to bring baseball bats to damage property.

“This being an open and active investigation, it would not be appropriate for us to discuss the matter any further. That was the status when you emailed us last week, and it remains the status today,” DCPS Chief of Marketing and Public Affairs Dr. Tracy Pierce said in an emailed statement Friday.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

We’ve decided not to name the teacher until we’re able to confirm or deny the outstanding allegations.

STAY UPDATED: Download the Action News Jax app for live updates on breaking stories