After claiming that a school district employee had taken historical African American individuals’ pictures down from a bulletin board in his classroom, a Florida teacher announced his resignation.

The Pensacola Journal stated that Michael James, the teacher, sent an email to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Escambia County Superintendent Tim Smith regarding the incident that happened at O.J. Semmes Elementary School.

James told the newspaper that he decided on the theme for the bulletin board because he wanted to highlight black figures that his kids could identify with and look up to, given that black students make up the majority of his school body.

Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, Colin Powell, George Washington Carver, and an image of the previous president Barack Obama on his desk were among the pictures that James claimed were taken down from the board.

It truly astounded me,” James said to the newspaper. “Having taught special education for fifteen years, I was quite amazed by her actions.”As the “Don’t Say Gay” law goes into effect, the White House describes the scene in Florida as “more fearful and less free.”

James, 61, formally resigned from his position as an exceptional student education (ESE) teacher, where he taught kindergarten through fifth grade, on Monday night after writing the letter to the governor. According to the publication, this would be his first year of teaching in Florida.

According to the article, Smith stated that educators are free to use educational materials to decorate their classrooms and that she is not aware of any policies requiring the removal of the photographs at the employee’s discretion.

Smith stated that an investigation is underway into the incident, which he referred to as an “anomaly.”

James identified the individual who removed his photos as the district’s board-certified behavior analyst.

He clarified that he had used $58 of his personal funds to purchase materials to decorate the board that would be placed behind his desk prior to the start of the new school year.

James said that on Monday, two behavior coaches and a behavior analyst assisted with setup in his classroom.

It’s a little strange, but that’s alright, James told the newspaper. “I had constructed the bulletin board a few days earlier, and when they walked in, we started moving tables about and swapping some out.”

He claimed that while attending to another duty, he glanced up to observe the woman removing something from the bulletin board, which had a copy of the Pledge of Allegiance adorning it as well.

She said something like it wasn’t age-appropriate when he asked her what she was doing. Something along those lines, James recalled.

Although he does not recall her bringing up race at the time, he told the newspaper that she also took the Obama picture off of his desk because it did not fit on the board.