Jacob Morris insisted on virtual teaching, but the Little Rock School District demanded he return to the classroom.
Neither side budged, prompting Morris to resign last week, and many of his current and former students at Central High School are upset, saying Morris had to choose between his and his family’s safety and his job.
Cecilia Schneider, a senior at Central High and co-student body president, said the school district was wrong to force Morris and other teachers “to do things that make them uncomfortable or unsafe.”
She and Anna Yates, the other co-student body president, held a rally outside the state Capitol on Monday. More than 75 students assembled on the front steps around 4:30 p.m., holding signs and showing their support for Morris, who until his resignation Friday, taught advanced-placement language and composition at Central.
“You can consider this letter my formal acknowledgement that you no longer desire my services as a teacher and are forcing me to resign,” Morris wrote in a letter Wednesday.
He also stated that he had been teaching from home since the start of the fall semester and that he hoped to continue to do so even as students were required to return to the classroom this week.
“Per my conversation with [Principal Nancy] Rousseau … I understand that you have chosen to no longer continue the accommodations under which I’ve been working since August 10, 2020, and that no further arrangements can be made,” Morris wrote. “Thus, since students will be returning in-person on Monday … it was suggested that my last working day should be Friday, October 16th. As you wish.”
Efforts to reach Morris on Monday were unsuccessful.
On his Facebook page, Morris said he was “overwhelmed with the outpouring of support” he had received since his resignation.
He also said he emailed parents and students Friday, saying he was “being pushed out” and that he was tired of trying to push back.
“I’d like to correct a portion of that statement,” he wrote. “I was tired of pushing back alone. But the past 36 hours have shown me what a fool I was to think that I was alone.
“I want to keep my job. I want everyone else who was forced out to have their jobs back. And I don’t want anyone else to be treated like this. Let’s keep pushing back.”
As of the end of the day Friday, Morris was no longer teaching at Central.
In a statement Sunday, the district said it would continue to apply state and federal regulations with respect to employees who seek leave.
“Unfortunately, the District is not able to accommodate undocumented health issues,” the statement read. Citing privacy laws, the district refused to share information related to specific personnel matters.
“Our teachers deserve much more respect, so much more than what they’ve been getting,” said Clare Enderlin, a senior at Central who was among those attending the rally Monday. “All they want to do is teach, and they’re not being allowed to do that. At the end of the day, they teach because they want to help students. They should have a safe enough environment to do that.”
A change.org petition urging the district to rehire Morris had more than 3,200 signatures as of Monday evening. Additionally, a gofundme page created to raise money for Morris and his family had generated $2,290 in donations.
In his resignation letter, which he addressed to Rousseau and Superintendent Mike Poore, Morris said he was resigning because it was his only option.
“Let us all be clear … as I have been since well before school began: I am not willingly resigning,” he wrote. “I can, however, resign myself to the fact that for you, a policy is more important than a person.”
After stating he would submit a claim for unemployment benefits, he warned Rousseau and Poore against badmouthing him.
“I trust that when people ask what happened to Mr. Morris, you will not suggest that I abandoned my job or in any other way denigrate my professional reputation,” he stated. “Pass the buck as you will over this decision, but I would hope that a decade of exemplary service should protect against slander.”