A high school principal has sparked even more confusion after she tried to explain a racially charged comment she made during a graduation ceremony by saying it was prompted by the devil.



The audience at the graduation for TNT Academy school in Georgia erupted in anger on Friday after principal Nancy Gordeuk saw some students and parents heading for the exit early and said loudly from the podium: “Look who’s leaving – all the black people.”

Gordeuk, the principal and founder of the alternative private school in Stone Mountain, Atlanta, later made several attempts to apologize for her outburst, but appeared to compound the situation.

She reportedly emailed parents to say: “A terrible mistake on my part of the graduation ceremony on Friday night. The devil was in the house and came out from my mouth. I deeply apologize for my racist comment and hope that forgiveness in [sic] in your hearts.”

Parents later posted the statement on social media.

Georgia authorities are now under pressure to intervene, while Gordeuk has reportedly received hate mail and death threats.

She told local television news outlets she was trying to persuade people to stay for a speech by a student, telling CBS: “The statement was not made as a racist remark; my concern was this student trying to make his speech and when I look over all I see is black people moving.” The TV station also put a longer statement from her online.

Several members of the audience recorded cellphone video of Gordeuk’s remarks. She can be heard saying she caused a mix-up in the program, where she forgot to list the valedictorian’s speech, and urged people to stay for it, asking them not to be rude.

But some attending the event, held at a church, later said people were walking out because of tactless remarks the principal had already made.

The furor has spread on social media and drew aggressive remarks on Twitter and Facebook purporting to be from Gordeuk’s son, Travis, which further stoked the row.

Nancy Gordeuk has not responded to a request from the Guardian for comment and the telephone at TNT Academy was not being answered on Monday afternoon.

Comment is being sought from Travis Gordeuk.

TNT Academy serves as a support center for children whose families choose to educate them mainly at home, rather than in the public school system, but use the school for teaching support, social activities, accredited testing and awarding credits towards a high school diploma.

The school is accredited by the Georgia Accreditation Commission (GAC), an independent body officially recognized by several state education agencies.

Phillip Morris, executive director of the GAC, said TNT is inspected by a consultant every three years and was last visited and re-accredited in 2013.

He told the Guardian he was receiving many complaints about Gordeuk’s behavior but the commission was not in a position to act officially until it received a complaint or allegation directly from a “stakeholder”, such as a parent of a child at the school.

“It should be handled by the school board. This lady owns the school, so her board is going to be people she appoints. That will have to be something we look at carefully. The matter is informally under review at the moment,” he said.

The school labels itself as a non-traditional education center. Its website literature features poor grammar and typographical errors.

“Obviously things were out of control at this event, which is not acceptable,” said Graham Lowe, vice chairman of the GAC board of directors.

“It’s unfortunate. The fact that she is the founder, that makes it real sticky, that probably gives her more input ... It will first be an internal matter, whether it will be to get rid of her or cut her salary for a couple of months, or what, I do not know and I don’t want to guess ... But they need to get it worked out,” he added.

Lowe noted from the video that there was a large audience for the event with lots of young people in caps and gowns preparing to receive their high school graduations.

“So they must be doing a good job of something,” he said.

He said many establishments such as TNT Academy had emerged in the US, including Georgia, in recent times to cater to the many families who prefer to educate their children at home but also seek part-time support from professionals, and turn to such fee-paying centers.