Georgia NAACP leaders said Tuesday they want the TNT Academy to sever all ties with its controversial founder, Nancy Gordeuk, whose racially inflammatory remarks at its graduation ceremony were widely scorned.
“This principal must be shut down,” state NAACP President Francys Johnson told reporters at a news conference.
Gordeuk was dismissed as principal Thursday, according to a three-sentence letter sent by the board chairwoman to the NAACP. However, the NAACP said it has received dozens of complaints from parents of TNT students about Gordeuk, whom they say is using the school's email account to encourage past and current students to defend the academy.
Johnson called the board dismissal letter “ambiguous” and accused Gordeuk of subterfuge. “If she thought that would work, it did not,” he said.
State records list Gordeuk as the academy’s owner. Her biography is on the academy’s website.
A telephone call and email to TNT Academy were not returned Tuesday.
The NAACP said it would forward the emails from Gordeuk, but The Atlanta Journal-Constitution had not received those messages Tuesday afternoon. The AJC has seen a message with Gordeuk’s name on it asking parents to write “a letter of support” about the academy that it will send to accrediting agencies.
A video of her remarks at the recent commencement exercise quickly became national news. Gordeuk, who is white, complained some attendees were disrupting ceremony and said “Look who’s leaving, all the black people,” prompting nearly the entire audience to leave in disgust. Gordeuk later apologized for the comments.
The academy, in Gwinnett County near Stone Mountain, is a private school with about 100 students, monitored by the Georgia Accrediting Commission. Some of its students failed public school classes or were expelled. TNT Academy is one of about 140 non-traditional educational centers in Georgia that must meet certain GAC guidelines.
Johnson called it a “paper mill” that he said is overcharging students, and he wants state officials to investigate. GAC executive director Phillip Murphy said Tuesday it has not received any formal complaints from parents, students or TNT employees. Murphy said any revocation of the academy’s accreditation would not have an impact on any former students.
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