A Florida teacher who led an assembly for Black fourth- and fifth-graders to discuss low standardized test scores, igniting outrage among parents, has resigned, CNN reports.

“I appreciate the opportunity to work in Flagler County Schools,” the teacher, Anthony Hines, who is African American, wrote in his two-sentence resignation letter, Flagler County Public Schools spokesman Jason Wheeler told CNN Monday (Sep. 11).

One day earlier, Bunnell Elementary School Principal Donell Evensen also resigned. Hines and Evensen were on paid administrative leave while officials investigated the Aug. 18 incident.

At the assembly, a PowerPoint presentation on goals and objectives for the new school year noted that Black students have underperformed on standardized tests for three consecutive years.

Parents complained that the gathering fueled the stigma that Black students are less intelligent than students of other races and ethnicities. They were angry that school leaders pulled only Black children out of class and required them to attend the meeting regardless of their academic performance on the exams.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported that children who attended the assembly said Hines told them that students with low test scores have a higher chance of going to jail, being shot, or being killed.

Hines told CNN that the assembly was called to gather the students in an intimate setting to encourage them to work harder on their grades and test scores.

“We had a good time in the assembly. I kid you not, but I didn’t think it through, and I take full responsibility for that,” Hines said. “There are violations that were broken. I could have handled it better.