School staff fired over ‘US Border Patrol’ shirts after photo goes viral

The News Guy

3 months ago

Things got off to a bumpy start with the beginning of school in one South Carolina district.

Several staff members of the Royall Elementary School in Florence County have been fired or placed on leave after posting a controversial photo from a Hispanic heritage celebration that included “Border Patrol” T-shirts.

Florence 1 Schools Superintendent Dr. Richard O’Malley addressed the “inexcusable” conduct of staff members in a letter after photos from the event last week were shared on the district’s Facebook page. The pictures, which have since been taken down, showed staff wearing sombreros, standing in front of a red brick-like wall with a sign that read “Royall Cantina.”

(Video Credit: WPDE ABC15)

“I was notified by my staff of an inappropriate social media post on one of our school’s Facebook accounts. What was posted, and the conduct of the staff involved, is inexcusable and not a representation of the school, its students and staff, or of our district as a whole,” O’Malley said in a statement.

“Dear Royall Parents and Guardians, As you may be aware, an inappropriate event occurred Wednesday morning during a Professional Development day at Royall, prior to the first day of school,” O’Malley wrote in a letter.

“Subsequently, pictures of the event were posted on the school’s Facebook page. I wanted to inform you that, due to the serious nature of this incident, several employees are no longer employed by the district or have been placed on leave by the district’s administration. As superintendent, I will not tolerate anything of this nature in our school district,” the letter read.

The district’s assistant superintendent of elementary education and its STEM director would be stepping in as “acting administrators,” according to the superintendent who also noted that an investigation was being conducted.

The school apologized for the “insensitivity” in a statement posted after the images sparked backlash.

“It is with regret that we acknowledge that a picture that was posted on our Facebook page yesterday showed an insensitive disregard for the current challenges our Hispanic population faces,” Royall Elementary School wrote in a Facebook post that had comments limited.

“At Royall, we take great pride in our long-standing tradition of embracing and supporting every student who walks through the doors of our building. Our staff is unanimously committed to celebrating the diversity of our families and ensuring that each and every student at Royall is successful, happy, and recognized for his or her unique culture and abilities,” the school noted. “We apologize for our insensitivity but look forward to fostering relationships as we begin a new school year.”

The number of employees who were fired or disciplined is not clear and a spokeswoman for the school district told News13 that the information could not be provided due to “confidential personnel matters.”

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.

Frieda Powers Senior Staff Writer
[email protected]

Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.