🌱 HER STORY — THE TRUTH IN HER OWN WORDS

Angel Drew Footman has said it plainly and without hesitation:

“I want to be absolutely clear: I have never organized a fight. I have never condoned fighting. I’ve never even been in a fight myself. That is simply not who I am. I was failed by a system that didn’t support me, and now I’m the one being punished for it.”

This is the truth of a young woman whose name has been carried through headlines, but whose voice has rarely been heard.

Angel is not the caricature the media created. She is a first‑year teacher, a children’s book author, a law student, and now the owner of a tutoring business where she continues to pour into students with patience, compassion, and purpose.

She entered the classroom in August 2022 with hope, passion, and a desire to change lives. She was 23 years old. She was new. She was learning. And she was doing it in a system that did not give her the support she repeatedly asked for.

⚖️ WHAT HAPPENED — AND WHAT DIDN’T

In March 2023, allegations surfaced claiming Angel allowed students to fight in her classroom. Angel has consistently denied this. She has maintained her innocence from day one.

She has said clearly:

• She did not organize fights

• She did not encourage fights

• She did not call students out of class

• She did not condone violence

• She did not participate in any way

She was a first‑year teacher, navigating real challenges without the support she needed — and the system that should have protected her instead left her exposed.

📌 THE LEGAL OUTCOME

In August 2024, the State Attorney’s Office agreed to a plea deal:

• All criminal charges were dropped

• Angel completed community service

• She agreed not to work again for Leon County Schools

• Her Florida teaching certification was NOT affected

This matters. Her certification — her professional identity — remains intact. Her future as an educator is still hers.

She now runs her own tutoring business, continuing to serve children with the same heart she brought into the classroom.

🏫 THE SYSTEMIC CONTEXT

The allegations against Angel did not happen in a vacuum.

Authorities became involved after a parent reported a fight to the school’s principal at the time, Zelena O’Banner.

Around the same period, an unrelated internal district investigation found:

• The principal allegedly deposited school fundraiser money into her personal account

• Borrowed thousands of dollars from a teacher

• Had another teacher perform personal tasks during work hours

She was placed on leave in December and resigned in February after the district stated it intended to terminate her. She has denied wrongdoing.

This context matters because it paints a fuller picture of the environment Angel was working in — an environment where leadership was under scrutiny, where support was inconsistent, and where a first‑year teacher’s pleas for help went unanswered.

Angel was not protected. She was not mentored. She was not supported. And when everything fell apart, she was the one left carrying the weight.

💛 A MOTHER’S FIGHT FOR HER DAUGHTER

Angel’s mother refuses to let her daughter be defined by allegations that do not reflect her character, her intentions, or her truth.

She is fighting because:

• The narrative is incomplete

• The system failed her daughter

• The accusations have harmed her daughter’s name

• The public has not heard Angel’s voice

• The story has been told about her, not with her

This sanctuary exists because a mother said:

“My daughter deserves to be seen for who she really is.”

And she does.

🌾 THE TRUTH OF WHO ANGEL IS

Angel is:

• A teacher who cared deeply for her students

• A young woman who asked for help and was ignored

• A first‑year educator navigating challenges alone

• A children’s book author

• A law student

• A business owner

• A daughter worth fighting for

• A human being deserving of fairness, dignity, and truth

Her story is not over. Her future is not ruined. Her name will not be defined by a moment she did not create.

This sanctuary stands to protect her truth — and to protect every teacher who has ever been left alone in a system that should have supported them.