A principal and four elementary school teachers in Palmdale, California, have been placed on administrative leave after a photo showing the teachers posing with a noose circulated on social media.
The picture was taken in a classroom at Summerwind Elementary School and has created a firestorm of controversy.
Four Palmdale elementary school teachers seen in a photo smiling while holding a noose are on administrative leave. Linda Brandt, the principal of Summerwind Elementary School in Palmdale, allegedly emailed the photo to her staff, attaching a second image of the noose hanging in an office, according to Los Angeles television station Fox 11.
Some parents are so hurt by the image, they pulled their children out of the school on Thursday.
“You hate them little black babies. You hate them little Spanish babies. All them little minorities. You hate em!” parent Darrin Harper told Fox 11.
“Yesterday, it was brought to the Palmdale School District’s attention that an incident involving the discovery of a noose and possibly inappropriate responses to that discovery occurred at Summerwind Elementary School,” Palmdale School District Superintendent Raul Maldonado tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “The Principal and the personnel involved in this matter have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation of the matter. We will follow process and procedures to conduct the investigation.”
