School investigating teacher over social media post allegedly to help ICE
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BALTIMORE, Maryland (WJZ) — Protests started Friday at a Baltimore County high school after a teacher allegedly posted to social media, targeting Hispanic students by way of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Students held a protest inside the halls of Overlea High School after the post targeted almost 50 Hispanic students who were excused from school for a day earlier in the week to demonstrate their beliefs in justice for immigrants.
The teacher’s Tweet allegedly tagged ICE’s account offering the names of those students to be investigated and calling all of them illegal or children of undocumented immigrants.
“It’s kind of sad you know, because that teacher was the one that some people could talk to and they felt comfortable with, but now, it’s like can you really trust a teacher,” Overlea student Andrew Mendez told WJZ.
Some students and alums at Overlea High School expressed outrage, shock and betrayal after the alleged post which called for ICE to investigate the students.
The alleged post has since been deleted, but it read, “We had almost 50 students at my school be legally excused to skip and support illegals protest earlier this week. All are either immigrants of kids of. If you want the names to investigate families to find illegals, let me know in dm. I’ll give names and school. All in Md.”
“I think it’s racist because he’s saying all of these people are illegal or from parents that are illegal, when most of these people already have their stuff settled, they’re probably already citizens by now,” said Overlea Alum Austin Mendez.
“But when it comes to making kids feel safe, you should feel safe to go to school,” Alum Jennifer Chacon said.
Students speak out
During a lunchtime protest at the school, students chanted, “We are one,” in the hallways as they protested what they described as a severe break of their trust by someone who is there to educate and believe in them.
“He was already king of controversial as a teacher, but we just let it slide because we just thought he was being honest, like an honest person,” Austin told WJZ.
“We thought we knew who he was, but him saying these things behind the scenes, it kind of upset people and it really brought a lot of people’s mood down because a lot of people really looked up to him as a teacher and someone they could talk to,” Andrew said.
Overlea High School Principal Dr. Monica Sample sent the following letter to parents:
“School administration recently learned about an unsettling social media post—allegedly from an Overlea High School teacher—directed at a group of Overlea High School students. The statements made in the post do not represent our values as a school community and fall outside BCPS’ acceptable practices and high expectations for staff members.
Overlea High School administration is following all BCPS policies and procedures to investigate and address this incident and remains committed to providing all students with a safe and welcoming learning environment. We want to thank the members of our community who brought this concern to our attention.”
WJZ has attempted to contact the teacher but has not heard back.
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