Polk County teacher accused of conspiring students to riot against principal, report says

Tomaris Hill has taught World History and African American Studies for 3 years

WKMG Click Orlando | By Samatha Dunne | September 28, 2021

POLK COUNTY, Fla. – A Kathleen High School teacher was arrested Monday on charges of conspiring to riot and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies.

Tomaris Hill, who has been employed as a World History and African American Studies for three years was charged after allegedly causing a disruption Monday around 6:30 p.m., the arrest affidavit states.

That night, 75 Polk County deputies, along with other state and local law enforcement agencies, responded to Kathleen High School when Hill and around 200 other students began blocking the school’s entrance and exit and chanting about terminating their principal, Daraford Jones, the report continues.

According to investigators, Hill had set up a speaker and microphone off school property and began chanting ‘Jones gotta go,’ into the microphone.

Students directed back inside by school administrators and deputies jumped six foot fences, even punching lockers and windows, on their way back into the building, deputies say.

Hills had previously posted complaints about Jones to his Facebook page, after the school principal issued a cease and desist e-mail regarding a school club fundraiser violation, the report states. Hill, who runs the high school’s Generation of Gentleman, a club in which students learn etiquette, life skills, professional skills and public speaking, was issued the notice on Sept. 10.

On Sunday, Sept. 26, Hill sent a text message to the club’s student members in reference to staging a school protest the next day, deputies said.

Thirteen students were also arrested on charges of disrupting a school function and resisting arrest.