SACRAMENTO, Calif — A Sacramento high school teacher has been placed on leave after displaying the Nazi flag during a World War II history lesson, school officials said Wednesday.
In a letter to parents, Rio Americano High School Principal Brian Ginter said that the teacher will be on administrative leave until the investigation is over. The teacher teaches English and Social Science at the high school.
The news comes after the teacher displayed a series of flags from Germany's history, including the Nazi flag, during a World War II history lesson last week.
Raj Rai, spokesperson for San Juan Unified School District, said students told staff about the flag on May 13 and that the flag came down the next day.
She added that the students who alerted staff were passersby and not part of the class. It's not known how many days the flag was displayed before the district became aware.
“It’s definitely part of the investigation taking into account what was done in the past, what those conversations were in the past and why there was a continued use of them last week,” Rai said.
Rai said the issue at hand is not about a history lesson, but instead, she said it is about students being made uncomfortable by the flag, the flag's prominent presence in the classroom, and that symbol being in the classroom.
Mary Kelly, a parent of a student at Rio Americano, told ABC10 on Tuesday that the flag has been displayed in prior years. At the time, additional details on this claim were not available from the district, but Ginter acknowledged in the letter that the teacher used flags from Nazi Germany as an instructional aid in past years as part of lessons. It was not known for how many years this was done.
“While images and symbols representative of hate may be used in textbooks and resource materials to provide historical context, displaying a flag with a swastika in such an egregious manner was unnecessary and created an unsafe environment for students,” Ginter said in the letter.
He added that the site administration has expressed concerns to the teacher about the practice and noted that it didn't reflect the school community.
“In this particular instance, it is not wrong to have conversations about propaganda tactics in Nazi Germany, but there is a better way to do so without prominently displaying a symbol of hate in the classroom,” he continued.
Rai expanded on the teacher's college-prep class for expository writing and reading.
"In this case for this specific lesson, there was a focus on propaganda and the use of hate tactics by government," Rai said. "That was kind of the theme that the class was discussing…. That’s how Nazi Germany was brought in by the teacher as an example of propaganda being used by government.”
Ginter's comments on the use of the flag echoed the sentiments of Rabbi Matt Friedman, husband of Mary Kelly. He told ABC10 on Tuesday that if the item was brought in for a specific lesson and was gone later, then he didn't have a problem with that, noting that he even admired teachers who try to enliven their lessons. But he didn't feel as though this incident matched that case.
“I do want my daughter to be challenged in her thought. I do want my daughter to learn and understand different viewpoints and ideas. That’s not what’s happening here, and that’s really the crucial element," Friedman said Tuesday. "We have to make a judgment call of what’s appropriate and inappropriate, and this is certainly a situation where it’s inappropriate.”
The district was inclined to agree with him.
“It is very different to actually have it in the room with the student on display right next to them where they’re at a safe place in their classroom," Rai said. "It did cross that line of being inappropriate and making students feel uncomfortable.”
Rai said the district will be making it clear that the flag can't be used as an instructional aid going forward.
After receiving Wednesday's letter, Kelly said she was supportive of the principal's decision to place the teacher on administrative leave.
Following the incident, Rai said the campus will be putting together an equity team for the campus. This team will be able to look up practices and policies on campus that might need an update.
ABC10 asked for confirmation on the teacher's name and asked whether the teacher had previously been disciplined. Citing the matter as a personnel issue, the district was not able to provide a name or speak to specifics on prior discipline.
A full letter from the principal is available below.
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