{"id":87423,"date":"2019-05-09T17:15:21","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T00:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=87423"},"modified":"2019-05-16T07:45:20","modified_gmt":"2019-05-16T14:45:20","slug":"principal-and-teachers-placed-on-leave-over-controversial-photo-at-summerwind-elementary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2019\/05\/09\/principal-and-teachers-placed-on-leave-over-controversial-photo-at-summerwind-elementary\/","title":{"rendered":"Principal and teachers placed on leave over controversial photo at Summerwind Elementary [updated]"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Four women, identified by parents as first-grade teachers at Summerwind Elementary School in Palmdale, pose with what appears to be a noose. The women, and Principal Linda Brandts (not shown), were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, according to Palmdale School District Superintendent Raul Maldonado.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PALMDALE \u2013 Summerwind Elementary School Principal Linda Brandts<\/strong> and four teachers have been placed on administrative leave over a photo taken at the school that shows four women smiling and pointing at what appears to be a noose.<\/p>\n

The controversial photo was brought to the Palmdale School District\u2019s attention on Wednesday, according to Superintendent Raul Maldonado<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn incident involving the discovery of a noose and inappropriate responses to that discovery occurred at Summerwind Elementary School,\u201d Maldonado said in a statement emailed to The AV Times<\/em>. \u201cThe principal and the personnel involved in this matter have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. We will proceed with the investigation immediately. We will not stop until we find out exactly what did occur.\u00a0 We will not tolerate this type of behavior in our schools. We hold the highest standards and expectations for our employees. We will follow process and procedures to conduct the investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was not clear who took the picture or when the picture was taken. It had been widely circulated on social media as of Thursday afternoon, causing outrage among parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks like a noose, a noose used to hang my ancestors from trees\u2026 black people,\u201d said Denise Royal, whose three children attend Summerwind Elementary. Royal said she called the school immediately after seeing the photo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no explanation, no denials. They just told me to call the [Palmdale] School District,\u201d Royal said, adding that she was disgusted by the picture and wanted to remove her children from the school.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s my daughter\u2019s first-grade teacher, Miss Campos, in the picture \u2013 all giggling and laughing,\u201d Royal said. \u201cI want [the principal] fired, point blank period!\u201d<\/p>\n

Community activist Dr. Miguel Coronado<\/strong> held a press conference outside the school Thursday afternoon to call attention to the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue in the community is that this was very insensitive, especially when you have white teachers posing with a historical racial artifact,\u201d Coronado said. \u201cI spoke to many African-American parents who were very disturbed and said they would be pulling their kids from the school district.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coronado said he was told that the school\u2019s principal had emailed the picture to all staff at Summerwind Elementary before it began circulating on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re concerned that the principal found it so funny that she circulated it. Obviously, it\u2019s not funny. It\u2019s infuriating, upsetting and disturbing, especially coming from teachers who educate black and brown kids,\u201d Coronado said. Brandts could not be reached for comment Thursday or to confirm whether or not she had emailed the photo to Summerwind Elementary staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an American Federation of Teachers member, this is not a reflection of teachers in the Antelope Valley. We have to be careful not to blanket all teachers as racially insensitive,\u201d Coronado added.<\/p>\n

Coronado and other community leaders are encouraging concerned parents and residents to attend the Palmdale School District Board meeting at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21. There also will be a community townhall meeting at 6 p.m. that day at the Living Praise Christian Church, located at 2320 East Avenue R in Palmdale. The townhall will address concerns at Summerwind Elementary School and the Palmdale School District, as well as issues involving the Antelope Valley Union High School District, Coronado said.<\/p>\n

For more information on the townhall, contact Dr. Miguel Coronado at 661-466-6810.<\/p>\n

UPDATED 5.16.19: Several theories have floated around on social media, but an official explanation on the context behind the noose photo has not yet been released. At a packed community townhall meeting Tuesday night (5\/14) hosted by the Palmdale School District, Superintendent Raul Maldonado confirmed that the picture was taken by Principal Linda Brandts and she also emailed it to Summerwind Elementary staff. The noose was found in a storage room at the school, according to media reports. The educators are still on paid leave and the investigation into the noose photo could take up to two weeks to be completed, according to the Palmdale School District\u2019s general counsel.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Another picture showing the noose hanging on an office wall was also circulated on social media.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Dr. Miguel Coronado explains the photograph to some students outside Summerwind Elementary on Thursday, May 9. [Contributed]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PALMDALE \u2013 Summerwind Elementary School Principal Linda Brandts and four teachers have been placed on administrative leave over a photo taken at the school that shows four women smiling and pointing at what appears to be a noose. The controversial photo was brought to the Palmdale School District\u2019s attention on Wednesday, according to Superintendent Raul […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":87425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87423"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}