Tag: STUDENTS
Video shows Alabama high school students using n-word, anti-Semitic slurs
White Alabama high school students were caught using racist and anti-Semitic slurs in a disturbing video that has sparked an investigation by school officials.
“Without the Holocaust, what would the world be like?” says one boy in the video, which included students from both Hoover and Spain Park high schools, located in a suburb south of Birmingham, AL.com reported.
“We would have white people still,” a girl responds. “All the n—-rs would not be here,” another teen chimes in.
“F–k n—ers, f–k Jews,” another teen says.
“Jews are fine because they’re white,” the girl adds. “We just need the n—-rs gone.”
The teens also referred to racially mixed people as “mixed Oreos” and talked about putting minorities in concentration camps or waiting until they “die off.”
The father of one of the students in the video posted an apology for his daughter’s actions on his business social media page. None of the other students in the video were publicly identified.
“Earlier today a video was circulated on social media that depicted high school kids hanging out and saying some really horrible things. One of the kids you can hear talking is my daughter. We believe, that in the moment she acted completely outside her character and certainly outside the morals and principles that we worked hard to instill in her throughout her lifetime,” Gordon Stewart wrote on the Hoover Toyota Facebook page.
“Our family, Mackenzie included, blatantly reject all forms of racism or bigotry and the sentiments from the video do not accurately reflect her or her true feelings. This experience has proven to be a crucial lesson in her maturity and she directly expresses her heartfelt apologies for her insensitivities,” he wrote.
School officials said they were investigating the incident, despite it occurring off school property.
Hoover Superintendent Kathy Murphy said she spoke with both schools’ principals, confirming the students are enrolled in the school system, AL.com reported.
“We have been made aware of a recently posted video that features Hoover School System students who appear to be engaged in disturbing conduct,” Hoover City Schools said in a statement.
“The activity apparently took place this past weekend at a private residence. Although it was not part of any school function, the conduct in question is in direct conflict with our school system’s values and its mission. Our school administrators are carefully investigating the situation in order to assess our options under the Code of Student Conduct. In the meantime, the Hoover school community may be assured that the Board, together with its administrative and instructional staff, remains steadfastly committed to maintaining and strengthening a school culture that encourages and embraces diversity, inclusiveness, and tolerance,” the statement continued.
Unique Simpson, a black student at Spain Park High School, suggested racist behavior is a problem at the school.
“Honestly, I am so sick and tired of going through this same routine at Spain Park High School,“ Simpson said.
“I’ve been through so many personal experiences,” she said. “This needs to stop.”
11-year-old arrested after refusing to stand for Pledge of Allegiance
An 11-year-old student was arrested after refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and allegedly telling a teacher that “the flag is racist and the national anthem is offensive to black people,” according to reports.
The boy, a student at Lawton Chiles Middle Academy in Lakeland, Fla., was charged with disrupting a school function and resisting arrest without violence for the Feb. 4 outburst, according to Bay News 9.
He was also issued a three-day suspension.
His mother, Dhakira Talbot, said officials took things too far by arresting her son, who she said is in gifted classes and has been bullied in the past.
“My son has never been through anything like this. I feel like this should’ve been handled differently,” she said. “If any disciplinary action should’ve been taken, it should’ve been with the school. He shouldn’t have been arrested.”
The classroom kerfuffle happened when a substitute teacher, Ana Alvarez, ordered the boy to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
When he told her he believed the flag was racist and the anthem was offensive, Alvarez asked him “why if it was so bad here he did not go to another place to live,” the teacher said in a statement to the school district.
The teacher said he replied, “they brought me here.”
Alvarez then told him, “Well you can always go back, because I came here from Cuba and the day I feel I’m not welcome here anymore I would find another place to live.”
She said she resorted to calling the main office “because I did not want to continue dealing with him.”
The student also allegedly called school leaders racist, threatened to get the school resource officer and principal fired and beat up Alvarez, according to an arrest affidavit.
He denied threatening to beat the teacher in an interview with Bay News 9 with his mother.
Polk County Public Schools spokesman Kyle Kennedy insisted that the boy was not arrested for failing to stand for the pledge.
“Students are not required to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance,” he told The Ledger.
The sixth-grader was collared “after becoming disruptive and refusing to follow repeated instructions by school staff and law enforcement,” he added.
Kennedy said he couldn’t discuss the boy’s discipline. Alvarez will no longer work as a substitute teacher in Polk County, he said.
“Our HR department will contact Kelly Services, which provides our substitutes, to further refine how our substitutes are trained,” Kennedy said.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/02/17/11-year-old-arrested-after-refusing-to-stand-for-pledge-of-allegiance/
Teacher fired for making black students play slaves in class plans $1B lawsuit
A white city public school teacher — who claims she was wrongfully fired over a controversial lesson on slavery in which she was accused of having black students lie on the floor while she stepped on their backs — plans to sue the city for $1 billion.
Patricia Cummings, 37, was canned in October after complaints about the highly unorthodox teaching method that left some students feeling humiliated and singled out by the exercise.
But Cummings insisted Thursday that she initiated the lesson in her class at MS 118 in the Bronx in good faith — and only one student and her parent objected.
Her sacking — and the torrent of criticism that followed — has rendered her permanently unemployable, Cummings said at a press conference alongside her lawyer, Thomas Liotti. “I have no career at this point,” she said.
She filed a $120 million lawsuit in Suffolk County, where she lives, against a slew of defendants ranging from the city Department of Education to Mayor Bill de Blasio to media outlets. But Liotti said they plan to build a $1 billion class-action case with other teachers claiming similar forms of discrimination.
Cummings said she was initially cleared after an internal school investigation but that the case was revived after media reports on the incident.
The teacher said her suit will be supported by the testimony of a black teacher at the school who witnessed the lesson.
That colleague found it effective — and said he would not have objected if his own kids had taken part.
“That 20 seconds of a teachable moment changed my life,” she said, adding that she was pelted with emails calling for her murder and was widely vilified as a racist.
“Anyone who has met me knows I don’t have that bone in my body,” she said. “I was brought up — you treat everybody the way you want to be treated.”
Liotta argued Thursday that the lesson only drew objections because of his client’s race.
“How does the City of New York expect to attract effective teachers when people like Patricia Cummings have to go through this kind of abuse?” he asked. “It’s outrageous.”
The Education Department initially reassigned Cummings before firing her after an investigation, according to agency spokesman Doug Cohen.
Their probe found that she used poor judgment but did not substantiate the corporal punishment charge.
“Ms. Cummings was terminated based on a thorough investigation and a review of her performance as an educator,” Cohen said Thursday. “We’ll review the complaint.”
Photo Credit: Twitter
High school class laughs as students sing KKK-themed Christmas song
DOVER, N.H. — A New Hampshire school superintendent is decrying a racially insensitive video of two high school students singing, “KKK, KKK, Let’s kill all the blacks,” to the tune of “Jingle Bells.”
Fosters Daily Democrat reports a cellphone video surfaced over the weekend of the students singing the song in class at Dover High School.
Superintendent William Harbron said in a letter to the school community Monday the incident was part of an assignment dealing with the Reconstruction period in American history, but said, “the impact was harmful.”
Harbron said the 11th-graders had to select a history event and create a jingle for it. Two students selected the Ku Klux Klan.
A decision on whether to discipline the students or teacher hasn’t been made yet.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/12/04/high-school-class-laughs-as-students-sing-kkk-themed-christmas-song/
Teacher commits suicide in classroom during school hours
A Texas middle school teacher committed suicide in his classroom Monday while school was in session, officials said.
A staff member at Wessendorff Middle School in Rosenberg found fine arts teacher Jordan Halane unconscious. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he later died, ABC reported.
The school district believes it was the teacher’s intent to harm himself, though they did not provide any details on his cause of death.
The district said students were not in danger and no weapons were found on the campus. They noted that Halane’s classroom was in a portion of the campus not directly accessible to students.
Following the tragic discovery, students were placed on hold in their classrooms. The school notified parents of the supposed suicide before notifying students.
“Our focus is always on the safety and well-being of our students. We felt that you should be aware of the situation in case your child comes home with questions or concerns,” the school’s principal, Sonya Sanzo, said in an email to parents.
The school said counselors would be available to speak with students or teachers throughout the week.
According to Halane’s Facebook page, he was married in 2016.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/11/07/teacher-commits-suicide-in-classroom-during-school-hours-officials/
Mom goes after ‘fight club’ day care
A Missouri mom claims her 4-year-old son was a victim of a “fight club” held at a St. Louis day care center — and that little has been done over the past two years to hold the teachers accountable.
Nicole Merseal shared shocking footage of brawls that she said involved her young son and claimed that teachers Mickala Guliford and Tena Dailey egged on the fights at Adventure Learning Center. She sued the facility in December 2016.
Guliford admitted to allowing the fighting, but said she merely meant it to be a “stress release exercise.”
Merseal said her 10-year-old son, who was with his older classmates in another room, filmed the incident through a window on his iPad after he saw his brother crying. He then texted his mother the video. Teachers were accused of forcing the younger boy to participate in three fights, Q13 Fox reported.
The newly released footage shows a teacher giving each child “hulk hands” before watching them wrestle one another to the floor. Merseal’s younger son wipes his tears away on the sidelines.
“My son was very afraid,” Merseal told ABC News.
“He didn’t understand why his best friends beat him up. These are children that he’s been around for a couple years. He described them as his best friends. He just doesn’t understand why they punched him in the face … I don’t know any parent that could watch their children go through this and not be upset.”
The fight occurred two years ago, but Merseal doesn’t think the teachers were held accountable enough for their actions. The teachers were fired but neither of them faced charges.
“I want them to be held accountable and I don’t want this to happen to any other child,” Merseal said.
Merseal also is seeking $25,000 in damages from the pre-school.
Inspectors visited the pre-school eight times since the incident and accounted for 26 violations.
One of those occurred in March 2018, when an inspector noticed a caregiver drag a 3-year-old by the arm. The pre-school director reportedly was in the room and did not respond.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/10/31/mom-goes-after-fight-club-day-care/
Student admits to putting bleach in pregnant girlfriend’s water
A former Pennsylvania college student who was accused of intentionally putting bleach in his girlfriend’s water pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted murder.
Police at Millersville University said Theophilous Washington, 21, from Washington, D.C., gave his girlfriend a water bottle knowing it had bleach inside, Fox 43 reported.
Washington reportedly offered his girlfriend, who was around two months pregnant at the time, the concoction in his dorm room the morning after spending the night. She allegedly felt a burning sensation in her throat, vomited, then called 911.
The man confessed to putting bleach in the water, and had said previously that he didn’t want her to have the child, LancasterOnline reported. The woman was examined by a doctor, and both she and her now-born child are believed to not have been hurt in the incident, according to Fox 43.
via: http://nypost.com/2017/10/24/student-admits-to-putting-bleach-in-pregnant-girlfriends-water/
Teacher accused of sleeping with student who tried kill himself indicted on sex charges
A married teacher in Maine accused of sleeping with a student was indicted Tuesday on a number of sexual assault charges.
Jill Lamontagne, 29, turned herself into authorities after she was indicted by a York County Grand Jury on six counts of gross sexual assault, two counts of unlawful sexual contact and six counts of abuse of a minor, the Portland Press Herald reported.
“The indictment was the culmination of an investigation into a relationship Lamontagne allegedly had with a juvenile, male student while she was a teacher at the school,” Kennebunk Deputy Chief of Police Michael Nugent said Wednesday, according to Seacoast Online.
Lamontagne allegedly had a relationship with the male student, 17, who was in her health class at Kennebunk High School at the time of sexual contact.
An abuse order filed by the student’s mother in Biddeford District Court states the relationship between the teacher and boy was revealed when he was hospitalized following a suspected suicide attempt.
The student ingested a concoction of ibuprofen, Tylenol, cold medicine and blood thinner Warfarin, according to the Press Herald.
The boy confessed to the relationship to his aunt a day after his hospitalization. The student and his teacher had sexual contact “numerous times, in the classroom, at her house, in her car,” the student’s mother wrote. The student said Lamontagne performed oral sex on him, adding that “other stuff happened.”
The student allegedly told his mother and a nurse at the hospital that he loved his teacher and took the mixture of medicines to attempt suicide, Seacoast reported.
Lamontagne told the student she hadn’t had a sexual relationship with anyone for two years. Court records reportedly indicate she is married and has children.
The teacher was placed on administrative leave June 12 when the boy’s family notified the school of the sexual contact. Lamontagne then filed for family medical leave, and was still on leave when she submitted her resignation in September.
Lamontagne was booked on the charges and released on $1,000 bail. She’s expected to appear in court Dec. 22.
Teacher smoked weed, drank with student to set mood before sex
A tatted-up teacher in Florida slept with one of her students nearly a half-dozen times — boozing up and smoking pot with him to set the mood, cops said.
Valerie Michelle Valvo, 34, was arrested Wednesday in Hernando County and charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor after she admitted to having sex with the 17-year-old inside her home, according to police.
The Central High School art teacher confessed to doing the deed at least five times, authorities said.
Both she and the teen, who was not identified, claimed that the romps were consensual.
The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office told WFLA they began investigating Valvo after receiving a tip about a high school teacher sleeping with a male student.
When deputies interviewed the boy, he admitted to having sex with her at her home in Spring Hill on at least three occasions, WFLA reports.
Valvo later agreed to talk to police — saying they actually had intercourse at least five or six times.
“He’s not old enough to consent to a relationship like that,” said Denise Moloney, of the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.
Both Valvo and the teen confessed to smoking marijuana together and drinking alcohol while inside her home, cops said.
According to a spokesperson for the local school system, the art teacher has been employed for the past three years. She has since been suspended — with pay — pending the outcome of the investigation.
Valvo’s mugshot, which was posted to Facebook by police, shows her sporting a colorful chest tattoo, as well as some ink on her left arm.
“The sad part is that this Woman [sic] is well liked by many students,” wrote one user.
“I have to wonder what goes through the mind of an individual like this,” another said. “There have been so many cases such as this all over the country. Each time the teacher is caught and loses their job, their family, their dignity, and their freedom. Why does each one that comes after the countless before them makes them think they will end up any different?”
Valvo is one of several educators to be busted in the past few months for sleeping with their students.
Most recently, a high school teacher was caught engaging in “sexual contact” with a 17-year-old male student in Texas. Her mugshot wound up going viral after she chose to smile from ear-to-ear for the photo.
via: http://nypost.com/2017/03/23/teacher-smoked-weed-drank-with-student-to-set-mood-before-sex-cops/