A Colorado high school teacher has been put on paid leave for allowing students to hit a piñata with President Donald Trump’s face on it during a Cinco de Mayo celebration. Teh school was closed Monday, May 8 due to an unspecified threat.
A high school in Colorado was closed Monday after receiving threats, days after a teacher at the school was suspended for allowing his students to hit a piñata with President Donald Trump’s face on it.
The Johnstown Spanish teacher is now on paid administrative leave after images of his class’ Cinco de Mayo celebration began circulating on social media. Images captured on Snapchat show a grinning Trump on a piñata, which in other photos is seen hanging from a tree.
The school district said it was made aware of the incident, which took place at Roosevelt High School, after photos were posted to Facebook of a student standing near the piñata with a bat in hand. The school received a threat early Monday morning and school officials and police said more time was needed to assess its credibility, so classes and all after-school activities were canceled. It was unclear if the threat was related to the Trump piñata.
“This was an incredibly disrespectful act that does not reflect the values of Roosevelt High School or the school district, ” Superintendent Dr. Martin Foster said of the piñata in a statement. The incident will be investigated.
Lesley Hollywood, who said on Facebook her daughter attends Roosevelt, wrote in a post that students said the other side of the piñata had a picture of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. She said that although she didn’ t vote for Trump, the incident was “unbelievable.”
“It is disturbing that this would be happening in a school setting, ” Hollywood told CBS4 . “Why divide people? Why do this? There are so many other ways we can address politics in schools.”
Johnstown is in Weld County, which voted 56.7 percent for Trump over 34.2 percent for Hillary Clinton. Clinton won Colorado.
