School teachers in the US who dressed up as Mexicans and a border wall for Halloween have been suspended after their 'insensitive' and 'inappropriate' actions.
The images of Middleton Heights Elementary school employees in Idaho wearing ponchos, sombreros and fake moustaches circulated on social media.
Others dressed as wall segments plastered with the Make America Great Again slogan.
An Idaho superintendent has issued a public apology and placed the 14 employees on paid administrative leave, according to the Washington Post.
This incident has struck at the heart of an emotional political debate over immigration, especially with the mid-term elections on Tuesday.
Superintendent Josh Middleton said in a Facebook video, “I want to say we’re better than this. Do I think there was malicious intent in this poor decision? No I don’t. Was there poor judgement involved? Absolutely.”
Middleton added in a statement, “This type of behavior has no place in education and certainly is not tolerated here at Middleton School District. This situation is being taken very seriously. This is an unfortunate incident of very poor judgment. Yet it is not indicative of the Middleton School District or our teachers as a whole.”
The story received angry reactions on the school’s Facebook page.
“The fact that these elementary school teachers thought this would be okay demonstrates how much more cultural competence training is needed in education,” Kevin Nadal, a psychology professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, wrote on Twitter.
A number of parents were also concerned.
“I was shown those photos and deeply troubled by the decision by our staff members to wear those costumes that are clearly insensitive and inappropriate,” one said. “Right now our time is going to be devoted to investigating those events and those poor decisions that were made.”
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