Four teachers and a principal have been placed on leave after a photo of the educators posing with what appears to be a noose circulated on email and social media. The circumstances around the origin of the noose at Summerwind Elementary School in Palmdale and the response afterward are under investigation. The photo shows four teachers smiling and holding a noose and was shared online without caption or context. Some parents who learned about the image said it was taken and distributed by the school’s principal, longtime educator Linda Brandts. The Palmdale School District, which is investigating the incident, was not immediately available for comment but issued a statement: Advertisement “I am appalled that this incident occurred,” Supt. Raul Maldonado said. “I am committed to the Palmdale Promise’s values of equity, integrity, and multiculturalism, and I know that most of the district believe[s] in the same values the Promise upholds. We will not allow the hurtful actions of a few hold back our district’s pledge to do right by our community.” Outcry among parents and others in the community followed the discovery of the photo. Breyson Clemmons, a parent at the school, told the Antelope Valley Press that she kept her 10-year-old daughter home from school afterward. Some parents at Summerwind Elementary in Palmdale have pulled out their students in response to a photo of teachers holding a noose. pic.twitter.com/99nTx9pkDl — mollenbeck (@amollenbeckKFI) May 9, 2019 “We are disgusted. Absolutely disgusted,” Clemmons said. “We drop our kids off with the idea that we are sending them to a culturally competent institution for learning. We think that we’re sending them to a school; they’re safe. Never do we think we’re sending them to a plantation where they got nooses hanging up, and holding on to nooses. Taking pictures and smiling, where’s the humor?” There has been a dramatic increase in hate incidents in grades K-12 across the country, said Cyndi Silverman, the Anti-Defamation League’s director for the Santa Barbara and Tri-Counties region. colleen.shalby@latimes.com @cshalby<doc-sep>PALMDALE (CBS) — Four teachers at an elementary school in Palmdale have reportedly been suspended after a photo of the quartet surfaced showing them holding a noose and laughing. Outraged parents stood outside the Summerwind Elementary School Thursday morning demanding answers. Some of the parents told CBS2/KCAL9 reporter Dave Lopez that the person who reportedly took the photograph is the school’s principal. The principal has also been suspended, Lopez reported. The firestorm started in the last 24-48 hours. Lopez was told the photo was only supposed to be shared among a small group of friends and was never intended to be put on social media. The picture did find its way onto the internet and then, the outcry. A second photo showed the noose hanging on what looks like a pillar inside a school office. The fallout was immediate. “You know the meaning behind it,” says parent James Florence, “behind our history, and you know you’re going to get backlash for it if it gets out.. And obviously it did.” Another parent was even more outraged. “If you look at the picture, you can see that they’re smiling. And even if it’s a joke, you just don’t play like this,” he said. The man added, “It’s appalling, it’s frustrating, it’s beyond words.” According to parents, the woman smiling on the extreme left of the photo is Jennifer Garcia. She was known for testifying at the Gabriel Fernandez abuse and murder trial. As his first grade teacher, she testified that as his teacher, she could tell the boy was being physically harmed at home. She contacted the authorities. Fernandez was the 8-year-old boy who died after he was abused and tortured by his mother and her boyfriend. His mother pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence. Her boyfriend went on trial, was found guilty and sentenced to the death penalty. Lopez said he tried repeatedly to reach Garcia by phone but got no answer. The district refused to identify any of the teachers in the photo. Florence said he knew who the woman was who was holding the noose. “I’ll give her name, it’s eventually going to come out,” he said, “That’s Miss Jones.” He said he never had a problem with the woman. “I heard she actually was a pretty good teacher for 20 some odd years,” he said. Outside the school Thursday, angry activists joined the parents in support. “I was infuriated,” said another parent who was there in support of a friend and her child. “I was just worried if he was okay. And if anything was happening to my son.” “It’s time to move out of the state,” said one parent, “move out of this area.” Lopez said he went to the district to see if he could get an on-camera comment from anyone connected to the school, preferably the superintendent. He was told by the school there would be no statements made on camera. All the school district would say is that all four teachers and the principal have been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation. Two parents who said their daughter was in Miss Garcia’s first grade class said she reported to work today but that other teachers demanded she leave. And she did. Lopez asked for confirmation about the suspensions from the school’s office and was told “no comment.”<doc-sep>Educators at Summerwind Elementary School in Palmdale, California posed with a noose in a photo. (Screenshot: Fox 11) Four educators who smiled for a photo with a noose are all suspended, along with their principal, who reportedly shared it in a mass email. Linda Brandt, the principal of Summerwind Elementary School in Palmdale, California, 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. Other parents found the photo on Instagram. Palmdale School District Superintendent Raul Maldonado tells Yahoo Lifestyle, “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. 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.” According to Fox 11, Brandt is in consideration to become the next district superintendent. Shaka Phillipps, a former teacher, administrator, and educational consultant, tells Yahoo Lifestyle that she pulled her 6-year-old niece from Summerwind on Thursday morning, shocked that all four teachers had resumed their daily lessons, despite their alleged suspensions. “They had the audacity to show up today,” she says. “The integrity of the school is completely compromised. To the black community, a noose is a weapon, a symbol of slavery and lynching.” A photo of a noose at Summerwind Elementary School in California was reportedly emailed to staff by the principal. (Screenshot: Fox 11) Randy Randle, Jr., the founder of a non-profit organization called Pivotal Role which rewards children for earning outstanding report cards, explained the impact to his little sister, whose once-trusted teacher stands in the photo. “I showed her the picture of her teacher and of someone hanging from a tree,” Randle Jr. tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “She’s sad and shocked that her teacher would hold a torture device.” Another parent named Darrin Harper told Fox 11 of Principal Brandt, “We want her gone from this school. And that’s just it. We want her out of her. I do, personally.” Story continues Breyon Clemmons told Fox 11, “I’ve requested that my kid be taken out of one classroom because that teacher, in particular, has shown prejudice discrimination against my kid and when I requested the black teacher I got grief for that,” she said. A teacher named Michele Lemaire, told the news station that a mostly-white teaching staff is a “huge issue” at the school. Phillips’s niece will stay home from Summerwind until the school enacts new policies and an appropriate discipline plan. She also wants assurance that her niece won’t be punished for missing school during the investigation. “I’m now questioning the education that my niece and every student of color, has received in this class,” says Phillips. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.<doc-sep>
Screenshot : Fox 11 Video Parents in Palmdale, Calif., are calling for a principal and several teachers to be fired after a photo surfaced showing them laughing, smiling and posing with a noose that was reportedly discovered on campus. Employees at Summerwind Elementary School told Fox 11 that principal Linda Brandts—who is looking to be the local school board’s next superintendent—sent two photos with the noose in them to all staff in an email that contained no message. One photo showed the noose hanging up in an office and the other showed four teachers posed with the noose, laughing, smiling and pointing at it. Brandts allegedly took the photos herself. While the student body at Summerwind is about two-thirds black and Latino , the teaching staff does not reflect the population being served. Michelle Lemaire, a teacher at the school, told Fox 11 that there are only a few black teachers at the school and the lack of teachers of color is a big issue that is not being addressed. Breyon Clemmons, a mother who has put one daughter through Summerwind and now has a younger daughter attending, told the news station that racism is prevalent at the school and she has had to address it a number of times with teachers. “I’ve requested that my kid be taken out of one classroom because that teacher, in particular, has shown prejudice and discrimination against my kid and when I requested the black teacher I got grief for that,” Clemmons said. The Palmdale School District’s current superintendent, Raul Maldonado, sent the following statement to Fox 11 News: This afternoon it has been 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. The Principal has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation of the matter. The Antelope Valley Times reports that four teachers have also been placed on administrative leave over the photo. Denise Royal, a black mother with three children at the school, told the AV Times that she was disgusted by the picture and wanted to remove her children from the school after recognizing her daughter’s teacher among those posed in the photo. “That’s my daughter’s first-grade teacher, Miss Campos, in the picture—all giggling and laughing,” Royal said. “I want the principal fired, point blank period!” The Palmdale School District posted a statement from Maldonado on its Facebook page Thursday that said in part “... I am appalled that this incident occurred. I am committed to the Palmdale Promise’s values of equity, integrity and multiculturalism, and I know that most of the District believe in the same values the Promise upholds. We will not allow the hurtful actions of a few hold back our District’s pledge to do right by our community.”