Court documents show that a former Durham Public Schools administrator is facing a new charge.
A Durham County grand jury on Monday returned a bill of indictment against Tanya Giovanni, charging her with six counts of felony obstruction of justice. The school board fired her from her deputy superintendent position on March 6.
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The charges stem from an incident at Eno Valley Elementary in 2024. WRAL Investigates obtained a search warrant in February 2025 detailing an investigation into an allegation that a kindergartener with autism was tied to a chair.
Giovanni was previously indicted in January and charged on Feb. 5 along with two other DPS administrators on five felony counts obstruction between January and December 2025.
According to the indictment, the new charge claims Giovanni prevented a human resources employee from interviewing Eno Valley Elementary School's former principal, Tounya Wright, who is also charged in the case.
The indictment said Giovanni knew the HR employee would interview Wright at the direction of the superintendent at the time she was suspended from her position.
"The defendant communicated that her intent was to prevent the staff member from creating a statement that could obtained by law enforcement," the indictment said.
Giovanni was the DPS deputy superintendent of administrative, legal and compliance services. She was suspended with pay Dec. 19 amid search warrants executed at the school district's headquarters. The district suspended the three administrators while it investigated them.
A letter to Giovanni from the school board, signed by chair Betina Umstead, said Superintendent Anthony Lewis recommended her termination after concluding Giovanni "failed to cooperate" with a child abuse investigation, made unilateral decisions she did not communicate, and improperly approved $250 bonuses for some employees.
Wright was charged with three felony counts of obstruction and one count of perjury. She resigned in January, shortly after the indictment. Wright has pleaded not guilty.
In a statement to WRAL Investigates Wednesday, Wright's attorney wrote:
"Dr. Wright is innocent of any criminal wrongdoing in this incident and looks forward to her day in court so that she may finally be exonerated of these baseless charges. Once apprised of the situation with the child, she communicated with the teachers' assistants involved and reported the same to DPS as she is required. She has no knowledge of DPS' internal motivations that led to the new charges. She has spent her entire career educating and advocating for the children of Durham County and anyone that knows her knows the charges against her are ridiculously bogus."
Ayesha Hunter, the district's former senior executive director of employee relations, was charged with six counts of felony obstruction and two counts of perjury. She was fired by the school board in February. She also pleaded not guilty.
Police believed there was a "coordinated effort to deflect liability," as well as to fabricate and cover up key information and a timeline, according to a search warrant. Police said they spent months trying to obtain the photos and any investigative records maintained by the administrators.
According to the search warrant, police believed the alleged abuse was brought to light because a custodian witnessed it, discreetly took photos, and provided those photos to the front office.
The family of the student filed a lawsuit over the incident, naming Wright but not naming Giovanni or Hunter.
