Sacramento teacher who removed classroom carpet seeks $2.3 million in damages
The Sacramento elementary school teacher whose removal has ignited a fierce parent movement for her reinstatement is seeking $2.3 million in damages from Sacramento City Unified School District.
Jeanine Rupert, a sixth grade teacher at Phoebe Hearst Elementary School for more than 20 years, triggered a cascade of increasingly dramatic events at the district this summer when she recruited students equipped with hammers and a crowbar to pull up old carpet in her classroom on the last day of school. The district said her actions constituted vandalism, violated multiple teaching standards and caused $22,000 worth of damage, according to a disciplinary letter released in October.
Now Rupert and her lawyer are arguing that the district inappropriately punished her for attempting to create a “clean, safe, educationally appropriate classroom environment,” according to a legal filing originally obtained by Abridged. Attorney James Jones wrote that Rupert did not consider students’ use of the tools to be unsafe “in any way” and that Ms. Rupert was present to ensure that “students were handling the tools with care.”
“Students at Phoebe Hearst use dissection kits, scissors, mow the school lawn, trim bushes with shears, dig with shovels and spades, build models with box cutters, and build picnic tables and Adirondack chairs (dozens) using power tools,” he wrote.
Rupert is also alleging that the school district has condoned or encouraged other self-directed classroom “beautification” projects, like repainting walls and that she had no reason to believe the removal of the carpet would be any different.
The filing also details the extent of the carpet’s deterioration and the safety hazards it presented to her students. In addition, the filing claims that Rupert made many earlier attempts to get the district to remove it.
Records released last month show that Rupert submitted two work orders over the course of two years. After the first request, district staff cleaned the carpet and determined that it did not need to be replaced. In response to the second request, the district hired a professional cleaning service which treated all school site carpets.
District spokesperson Brian Heap said last month that the district has a limited budget for maintenance projects.
“So with 73 schools and dozens of classrooms at each site, we don’t just replace carpet because a teacher asks,” he said.
How a dirty carpet led to a recall effort
Rupert and her lawyer are demanding seven figures to cover lost wages, emotional distress damages and attorney fees. Shortly after Rupert was reassigned to another district elementary school, she went on medical leave due to depression and anxiety.
Jones told Abridged that he gave the district until Dec. 8 to accept the terms of the claim and would file a lawsuit in mid-December if they should reject them.
Rupert is seeking money from the district as it navigates a $43 million dollar shortfall, seeking to save every dollar possible to shield cuts from affecting classrooms.
That’s not the only way this carpet could cost the district. In the wake of Rupert’s reassignment and her co-teacher Mark Henrikson’s placement on administrative leave, hundreds of parents have organized school walkouts, protests and an effort to recall Board President Jasjit Singh.
Singh has answered the group’s intent to recall with a statement about accountability, reaffirming his support of the human relations department’s decision.
“This recall got started because the School Board supported holding a teacher accountable for causing $22,185.72 of damage to her classroom and potentially exposing her students to asbestos. Parents raised concerns,” he wrote.
“The Administration decided her mistake warranted discipline. The School Board supported HR’s decision that a school transfer, rather than termination, was appropriate. In my judgement, failing to hold this teacher accountable would send the wrong message to youngsters.”
This story was originally published November 18, 2025 at 11:00 AM.
