Report: NC teacher asked to remove Palestinian flag, leaves school. Students protest.

Riverside High School math teacher Kayla Thompson was honored last Sunday, left the school on Tuesday, and by Friday, inspired a student walkout when she hadn’t returned to campus.

The student walkout was approved, and the “students expressed themselves peacefully,” Crystal Roberts, the district’s director of strategic communications, said in an email Saturday. “No action was taken regarding the students.”

Thompson remains an employee at the school and was not removed from class, Roberts told The News & Observer. She declined to say why Thompson was absent from class last week, citing personnel laws.

The N&O has not been able to reach Thompson for comment.

The incident started after Thompson was named Pirate Hero of the Month on March 17, according to the student-run Pirates Hook newspaper. Winners of the Riverside PTA program appear each month on the school’s website, Facebook page and Instagram account.

A screenshot of a Google search captured Saturday showed Thompson being congratulated on the school’s website for the honor, which recognizes “a Riverside teacher, coach, or staff member who has gone above and beyond to support our community.”

However, the post no longer appears on the school’s website.

Riverside plans to repost a photo of Thompson with her award, Roberts told The N&O in a follow-up email Monday.

What caused the Riverside student walkout?

The newspaper reported that a photo of Thompson holding her award was taken down soon after it was posted, because the photo showed her in front of a Palestinian flag in her classroom, sparking critical online comments.

Riverside administrators asked Thompson to remove the flag Tuesday, the newspaper reported, and she complied before leaving campus. When Thompson did not return last week, roughly 30 students walked out of their math class in protest at 9:30 a.m. Friday, the report said.

Several students had signs at the protest that read: “Free Palestine,” “Is This Scary DPS?” and “End The Occupation,” the report said.

Another group of students protested during a lunch period, and students in a third-period class drew a Palestinian flag on a whiteboard in Thompson’s classroom, it said.

The students interviewed by the newspaper said the flag had been hanging in Thompson’s classroom for a while in support of the Palestinian people suffering because of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Who is Kayla Thompson, and why did she leave?

Roberts declined to say whether Thompson left the school voluntarily Tuesday or was asked to leave, citing state personnel privacy laws. She also did not address whether a new photo would be posted celebrating her Pirate Hero award.

Thompson, an N.C. Central University alumna, was hired to work in the Durham Public Schools district in 2014, Roberts said.

In 2019, she became Riverside’s varsity cheerleading coach, and in August 2020, she started working as a math teacher, according to the district and a February newspaper story.

The Riverside student reporters said they tried to speak with Thompson, who declined, saying “she hopes to speak about the incident soon.”