NJ High School Teacher Who Censored Trump T-Shirt in Yearbook Suspended

The New Jersey teacher who censored pro-Trump quotes and photos out of a high school yearbook has now been suspended, reports reveal.

Last week, three students at Wall High School, in Wall, New Jersey, found slogans supporting President Donald Trump on their shirts and yearbook quotes had been edited out of their 2016/17 school yearbook.

The teacher responsible for the censorship has been placed on suspension.

While refusing to identify the teacher in question, Superintendent Cheryl Dyer said that the yearbook adviser was suspended “pending further disciplinary action” from the school board, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Dyer also said she does not have “definitive answers” to all her questions, before adding, “but I knew enough at this point to get board approval to take that action.”

The paper reported that the school’s website lists the yearbook club’s adviser as Susan Parsons, but the district has not confirmed that this is the teacher who has been suspended. Her 2016 salary was $87,950 according to public sources.

Parsons, who has worked in the district for 15 years, also lists “photo editing” as one of her skills on the school website.

Last week, news broke that two students had their Donald Trump shirts altered to remove the pro-Trump sentiment in the Wall school yearbook. A third student found her Donald Trump quote removed from the pages of the book before publication.

Indeed, the girl who asked to have a Trump quote added to her photo said that another student was allowed to have a quote from President Franklin Roosevelt, but her quote from President Trump was not allowed.

Parent Joseph Bernardo was critical of the school’s act of censorship and demanded that the school pay to have all the books reprinted at the district’s expense as a “teaching moment” about students’ First Amendment rights.

“I want a letter from the administration explaining why the yearbooks are being reissued, and it should be used as a teaching moment related to the First Amendment in civil discourse,” Mr. Bernardo said.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston, or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.