Former Richmond County teacher sues school district over complaints after failing students
A former teacher at Westside High School has filed suit against the Richmond County Board of Education as well as Superintendent Kenneth Bradshaw and Assistant Superintendent Nathan Benedict after she allegedly received significant pushback for failing several students in a British literature class.
Dr. Von Y. Pouncey worked for the Richmond County School System from 2020 to 2022, and also ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Augusta Commission in June 2022. She notified the school district she would not return the following year to teach in March 2022.
The lawsuit stems from a British literature class Pouncey taught in spring of 2022, a required class for graduation. The final exam for the course took the form of a project involving a research paper and a three-slide PowerPoint presentation. In the lawsuit Pouncey said that if a student delivered the presentation as assigned they would get 100% on the assignment. If they did not present anything they would fail.
According the suit, Pouncey taught 55 students, eight of whom did not take the exam. The administration asked her about two of these students over a series of meetings, Pouncey alleges. She eventually agreed to re-offer the exam if all eight students who missed the first exam could retake it; three of the students failed, the lawsuit alleges.
Pouncey alleges she was pressured to provide another retest for these three students, and that when she finally agreed she realized a makeup test had already been given and that the three students had still not passed the course. The administration allegedly asked her to give them a chance to improve their grade to passing, but she argued that the students were given an opportunity to improve their grade.
"The Richmond County School System does not comment on pending litigation or personnel matters," noted system spokesperson Keisa Gunby in response to a Chronicle request for comment. No response appears to have been filed yet by any of the defendants.
On July 19, 2022, Pouncey received a letter from Benedict that charged she had not taught the course to the standards of the school system, including not giving out a rubric for the presentation, failing to give students enough opportunities to prove they mastered the materials, and marking two of the three students as not showing up to the final presentation when they had in fact showed up.
"Following the final examination, complaints were made by parents of the three senior students who failed your final exam," the letter, attached to the lawsuit as an exhibit, reads. "The parents alleged that you did not provide an equitable approach to grading and did not provide enough grading opportunities to show that mastery was being taught. ... It turns out the 'final examination' was more like a CAPSTONE project and had little to do with British Literature."
The letter continues to say the school system "is disappointed and most concerned with the way you taught and evaluated students" and that while Pouncey had already resigned, and could not be disciplined, the matter was being referred to the Professional Standards Commission. Pouncey's attorney requested a copy of the information sent to the commission, before realizing that the information was never actually sent.
Pouncey argues that the school district and employees were grossly negligent, defamed her, retaliated against her and intentionally caused her mental distress.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Former Augusta teacher sues over complaints after failing students
