A California elementary school teacher has created a firestorm over a video she posted to social media in which she says students from the local conservative high school club can “jump off a bridge.”
“The Paso Robles Conservative club for the high school, you can go jump off a bridge,” Bauer Speck Elementary School teacher Kristin Usilton said in an initial video posted to her Instagram account last week, according to the Paso Robles Press.
The teacher, who has served in the Paso Robles district for six years and reportedly refers to herself as a “dual immersion teacher,” apparently filmed the videos in a classroom.
Though, as Fox News observed Thursday, Usilton’s Instagram account appears to have since been deleted, parts of her videos can still be seen on social media.
Paso Robles Press reported:
In the first video, Usilton starts by saying, “Of the justice of all the neglected Hispanic population on the west side still fighting just for their right to have an equal education. And if you think that I’m going to stop fighting, you got another thing coming.”
The local news outlet noted Usilton went on to say:
The Paso Robles Conservative club for the high school, you can go jump off a bridge. I’m going to post what they thought was a great show of support for the veterans, who I’m pretty sure would be absolutely offended by what they did on school campus. And had the LGBTQ population done that or the black or the Hispanic community members, we would have had our a– chewed out. Look at what they did today.
Usilton apparently showed a video of students on November 10 waving American and military flags in the high school parking area while one student held a flag that said “F – Biden,” according to the Press.
On the same day, Usilton reportedly posted a second video in which she appeared to be attempting to back away from her earlier remarks.
“When I said ‘go jump off a bridge, I just meant go away, and I will not use that term again because of the incredible influx of messages I got about that,” she reportedly said. “But if that’s what you focused on in that message, you’re kind of part of the problem.”
According to the Press, the school district is investigating both the students waving the flags and Usilton’s video remarks.
Superintendent Curt Dubost released a statement to the Press on Wednesday afternoon that said, “a student effort to honor Veterans Day was disrupted by a very poor choice to include a profane flag.”
Dubost continued:
This both detracted from the intended purpose of the demonstration and led to considerable disruption, including some postings and exchanges on social media that were completely inappropriate. The objectionable flag was up for a very limited amount of time; however, we in no way condone nor excuse this misguided action. Students will be appropriately disciplined in accordance with District policies.
Later that day, a District employee posted comments on social media regarding this event which were inappropriate, and the District is responding accordingly through the Human Resource office. The District will make it clear to all employees that as an employee of PRJUSD, social media is not the appropriate venue for criticism of our students and families and that we must conduct ourselves in a professional manner. The community is entrusting their children to our schools and employees. With this stated, we want to emphasize that the District does not tolerate threats on our employees or students, nor do we condone cyber-bullying.
“The District will expand its efforts to hold joint activities which promote tolerance and unity,” Dubost added. “Veterans Day should be a day for patriotism and honoring service, not yet another politically divisive controversy. We call on the school community to come together as Roblans and Bearcats.”
Eusebio Martinez Jr., Usilton’s fiancé, told the Press via Facebook the teacher was unavailable to comment due to the investigation.
Martinez added his concern the media attention to Usilton’s videos is “ruining her good name.”
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