Perry High School in Gilbert, Arizona, has reportedly reinstated a student who was serving a suspension over an incident involving the display of a “MAGA” flag; however, an Arizona state legislator is now calling on the school to remove the suspension from the student’s record, and asking the Attorney General to look into possible criminal behavior by school officials.
A student at Perry High School was suspended after Principal Dan Serrano became frustrated with the student’s mother over an incident that stemmed from a MAGA flag, according to local community members and State Rep. Kelly Townsend.
The incident first unfolded after several students said they had been reprimanded and/or punished after bringing a MAGA flag to school and wearing MAGA attire last week for “Spirit Week.”
The principal says the students were not disciplined due to their political views, but rather, the school had taken issue with their refusal to provide identification to staff after unveiling “political signage” that the principal says caused “concern for student safety.”
State Rep. Townsend told Breitbart News that the student did not provide her ID because her mother had told her not to talk to anybody until she arrived at the school to figure out what had happened.
According to the state legislator, the student had received a ten-day suspension after principal Serrano became frustrated with the student’s mother.
The lawmaker believes that principal Serrano was already irritated upon the mother’s arrival, as he had just trespassed another mother, Jennifer Farris, who had also arrived at the school to question him about the incident.
“He kicked them out, out of frustration,” said Rep. Townsend, “[The second mother] went into the office to discuss it, and the principal responded with ‘I’m tired of talking about this, she’s got ten days suspension, get out of here.'”
The lawmaker had called on principal Serrano to rescind the student’s suspension, as well as the first mother’s trespass from school property.
After three days, the school complied with regards to the suspension but a three-day suspension still remains on the student’s record, according to Rep. Townsend, who is now calling on the principal to remove the suspension from the record.
https://www.facebook.com/TownsendForHouse/posts/10157180371948914
“You have taken an important step in ending the 10 day suspension of your student,” said Rep. Townsend in a statement to Serrano, adding that the suspension should be removed from the student’s record entirely.
“She was complying with the directions of her mother and you punished her because you were ‘sick of talking about it,'” said the lawmaker, “This type of retaliatory punishment ought to never have happened. I’m calling on you to finish your gesture and remove this from her file completely.”
As for the first mother, the Chandler Unified School District claims that Farris was trespassed from school property after she had “screamed, yelled and used profanity.”
“When the parent at issue arrived at the Perry High School office, she screamed, yelled and used profanity, including the ‘F’ word in the presence of students and staff,” read a statement by the school district, “Her conduct did not meet expectations for public conduct on school property.”
“When the parent would not cease her screaming, yelling and cursing, Mr. Serrano asked her to leave. She refused to do so. At that point, Mr. Serrano told the parent that he was trespassing her,” added the statement.
Farris had filmed her interaction with the principal and staff upon arriving at the school. The video begins by showing the mother exiting her car and starting to walk toward the school building.
Only the second half of the video was posted to social media, as the students’ faces were visible in the first part of the video and Farris had not wanted their identities exposed to the public, as several students are minors.
A copy of the full video was obtained and reviewed by Breitbart News. In the video, Farris was not heard screaming, nor using profanities.
https://www.facebook.com/TownsendForHouse/posts/10157179287163914
“Your school issued a statement accusing Jennifer Ferris of screaming and using foul language in front of students prior to the beginning of the recording that was released,” said Rep. Townsend in another statement to principal Serrano on Thursday.
“I suppose you did not know that there was more to the recording that would dispute your claim when you chose to discredit this mother,” added the legislator, “I have seen the rest of the recording, and what you have done is criminal.”
The lawmaker is now demanding principal Serrano’s resignation.
“I am asking the Attorney General, along with my colleagues, to look deeper into this issue and to determine whether you should be held accountable criminally,” said Rep. Townsend.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo and on Instagram.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.